BPI non-life insurer acquires Aviva business in Philippines

BPI/MS Insurance Corp. has signed an asset purchase agreement with Aviva General Insurance Pte. Ltd. (Aviva) of Singapore for the transfer of Aviva’s insurance business in the Philippines.

BPI/MS Insurance Corp. is the third largest non-life insurance company in the Philippines and is a member of the Ayala group. Aviva is a fully-owned subsidiary of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd.

"The integration will underscore growth through the efficient use of a common infrastructure to better service Aviva and BPI/MS policy holders and intermediaries. With the acquisition of Aviva’s general insurance business in the Philippines, BPI/MS will offer Aviva’s customers the same stability and integrity that has earned BPI/MS Insurance distinction," Noriaki Hamanaka, president of BPI/MS Insurance Corp., said.

Starting this October, Aviva’s policyholders in the Philippines will now be serviced by BPI/MS Insurance Corp.

This is a result of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance’s purchase in 2004, of Aviva Plc.’s general insurance operations in the Asian region, namely in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

BPI/MS Insurance Corp. is a joint venture of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), a member of the Ayala group and one of the country’s biggest and most stable banking institutions, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd., the second largest general insurer in Japan. Aviva Plc. is the largest insurer in the United Kingdom and the fifth largest insurance group in the world.