Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd. (MSI), a member of MS&AD Insurance Group, has acquired an additional 9% of common stock in Ceylinco Insurance PLC, the largest insurance group in Sri Lanka, for approximately 3 billion rupees (US $42 million), increasing its total shareholdings to 15%.
MSI originally invested in Ceylinco Group, which it already had a existing business alliance with, in July 2015, allowing it to enter Sri Lanka’s market as the first Japanese insurance company.
Sri Lanka has a steadily growing economy with a GDP growth rate of 3.1% and is part of an important sea lane from ASEAN countries through the Middle East to East Africa.
The country’s insurance market has also achieved double-digit growth for the last three years, and demand is expected to continue to increase as improvements to living standards and further urbanisation are realised, MSI explained.
It added that the acquisition of further stock and voting rights in Ceylinco Group will allow it to continue to provide high quality services for Japanese corporate clients, as well as further contribute to insurance penetration and economic development in Sri Lanka.
Established in 1987, Ceylinco Group currently controls around 144.5 billion rupees ($2.0 billion) in total assets and recorded a profit after tax of around 11.7 billion rupees ($165.1 million) at the end of FY2017.
After giving effect to the most recent acquisition, MSI has dispatched a director to Ceylinco Group to contribute and enhance the Group’s corporate value and to strengthen MSI’s operations in Asia via sustainable development.
