UK insurer Prudential has agreed to acquire a bancassurance partnership in Thailand from FWD Group in a THB24.5bn ($751m) deal.
Prudential’s Thai unit, Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand), will buy the exclusive rights from FWD to sell life insurance products through TMB Bank. The initial term for the partnership is 15 years and Prudential will pay in two instalments.
The new agreement significantly expands and extends Prudential’s successful partnership with Thanachart Bank to TMB Bank, which, following their merger, is the sixth largest bank by deposits and fourth largest bank by branches in Thailand, according to a Prudential statement issued yesterday.
Thailand is the second largest life insurance market and the largest mutual fund market in ASEAN, and has significant growth potential. The bancassurance partnership strongly complements Prudential’s top-five market position in the mutual fund market. It also deepens the strong relationship with TMB established through Prudential’s joint venture asset management partnerships, where Prudential has a 12% share of the Thai mutual fund market. Together, both partners now have a high-quality platform to deliver best-in-class, holistic health and wealth solutions to 9m TMB customers equivalent to 17% of the country’s adult population³.
The extended exclusive partnership agreement will commence on 1 January 2021, and until this time the current arrangement with Thanachart Bank will continue.
Prudential is an Asia-led portfolio of businesses focused on structural growth markets. Prudential has 20m customers and is listed on stock exchanges in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.
Prudential has operated in Thailand for more than 24 years through Prudential Life Assurance (Thailand). Prudential serves more than 1.6m customers in Thailand.
TMB is a market leader in deposits and digital banking while Thanachart Bank is a market leader in retail lending, particularly in the auto hire purchase segment where is ranked No.1 in the Thai market. After the successful merger with Thanachart Bank, TMB’s operational scale has doubled in size with total assets of THB1.9tn and is now the sixth largest bank in Thailand. TMB, together with Thanachart Bank, has a combined branch network of over 900 branches nationwide and a customer base more than 9m.
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