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U.S. investment giant KKR & Co has acquired major Japanese insurance distributor Hoken Minaoshi Hompo Group Inc with the aim of using it as a hub for making further deals in the industry.
KKR said it will seek the insurance firm’s expansion “through organic and inorganic growth strategies such as sales enablement and bolt-on acquisitions.”
The value of the deal has not been disclosed, but sources familiar with the matter said KKR bought the insurance distributor for slightly over 30 billion yen ($204 million).
Japan’s insurance agency sector, which sells policies on behalf of insurers, has been dogged by regulatory and governance problems in recent years, such as a case involving a used car dealer Bigmotor Co that acted as an insurance agency. The company was accused in 2023 of deliberately damaging customer vehicles and filing fraudulent insurance claims.
Hoken Minaoshi Hompo, which runs about 360 outlets across Japan and sells policies for more than 40 insurers, earlier this year suffered a cyberattack that resulted in a leakage of data such as customer names and addresses.
KKR will draw on its “global network, sector expertise, local knowledge, and operational capabilities” to support the Japanese firm’s renewed growth, it said.
KKR operates Global Atlantic Financial Group, an insurance business dealing in life insurance and reinsurance products.
