InLife and Oona Insurance enter into agreement for Oona Insurance to fully own Oona Philippines
InLife sells its 40% stake in Oona Philippines, making it Oona's fully owned subsidiary.
Oona Philippines and InLife will still collaborate to cross-sell insurance products in the Philippines.
Oona aims to strengthen its presence in the Philippines' non-life insurance market, backed by advanced technology and a buy-and-build strategy.
Jakarta, 21 Desember 2023 – Insular Life (InLife) and Oona Insurance group (Oona) recently jointly announced that they have entered into an agreement, with InLife selling
its 40% stake in their non-life insurance joint venture, Oona Insular Insurance Corporation (Oona Philippines), making it Oona’s fully owned subsidiary. Oona Philippines and InLife will continue their cooperation arrangements to cross-sell insurance products in the Philippines.
The agreement is expected to further boost Oona Philippines’ status in the general insurance industry, building upon the series of innovations and services that it has brought to the Philippine market since it set up shop in the country last year. InLife, on the other hand, will focus on its core life insurance and healthcare business to sustain the momentum it has achieved in the last couple of years. 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. InLife plans to support its scale and innovation efforts in its operations and distribution channels in its bid to move further up the rankings.
“As InLife moves forward to achieve accelerated growth and continue in its journey to provide customer service excellence through digital transformation and innovation, we will continue to support Oona’s plan to strengthen its presence in the Philippines,” said Executive Chairperson Nina D. Aguas.
“We are deeply grateful to InLife for being a remarkable partner during our lift-off stage over the past year, and we look forward to maintaining our cross-selling partnership with InLife going forward. 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,” said Abhishek Bhatia, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Oona Insurance group.
Headquartered in Singapore, Oona, is a leading digital general insurance platform and is backed by Warburg Pincus. Oona aims to become the general insurer of choice for both partners and customers through a buy-and-build strategy, leveraging the pillars of superior customer service, advanced technology, and a well-established brand across Southeast Asia. The firm currently operates in two markets in the region: Indonesia and the Philippines.
In Indonesia, Oona operates through its licensed insurance entity, PT Asuransi Bina Dana Arta, Tbk. Oona recently unveiled an innovative travel insurance product, Oona Flight Delay Insurance1, targeted at Indonesian travelers.
Oona’s flight delay insurance disrupted the Indonesian market being one of the first of its kind to be sold via WhatsApp and its chatbot, Yoona, on its website.