Oona Insurance Group (Oona), a Warburg Pincus-backed digital general insurance platform, has agreed to fully acquire Oona Insular Insurance Corporation (Oona Philippines) by buying out the stake of its joint venture partner in the country.
In a statement, Oona said it has agreed to acquire the 40% stake of Insular Life (InLife) in the non-life insurance JV, making Oona Philippines its fully owned subsidiary. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Oona Philippines was launched in 2022 after Warburg Pincus, the US-based private equity giant, committed $350 million to set up Oona Insurance, the Southeast Asia-focused digital general insurance platform.
Oona Insurance was seeded with two acquisitions – Indonesia’s PT Asuransi Bina Dana Arta (ABDA) and the Philippines’ Mapfre Insular Insurance Corporation (MIIC). Both firms, which have decades of experience in their markets, were rebranded as Oona Insurance.
A company source told DealStreetAsia that the Philippines and Indonesia are the two most important markets for Oona Insurance.
Oona Philippines offers non-life, fire, travel, personal accident, business, home, CTPL, and comprehensive car insurance products, in a market where the insurance industry was estimated at 1.67% of the country’s gross domestic product.
In early September, Oona launched its “Smart Flight Delay” insurance product in the Philippines for travelers who are affected by airline cancellations and flight time delays. It also launched the Kahoona intermediary distribution platform in the Philippines in late October.
The joint statement said the deal will boost Oona Philippines’ status in the general insurance industry, building upon the series of innovations and services it has brought to the Philippine market since its launch.
Once the deal is approved, Oona Philippines and Insular Life will continue their cooperation to cross-sell insurance products in the Philippines, per the announcement.
The acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Oona Philippines is a strong testament to Oona Insurance’s confidence in the Philippines market, said Abhishek Bhatia, founder and CEO of Oona Insurance Group.
“We are very optimistic and believe this move will help us push for higher growth as we position ourselves to be a major player in the Philippines’ non-life insurance market,” Bhatia added.
InLife, on the other hand, will focus on its core life insurance and healthcare business. Latest data show the life insurer jumped to number five at the end of this year’s first half in terms of its new business annualized premium equivalent.