Kurnia Group
Kurnia eyes regional M&A deals
THE STAR - Saturday, December 16th, 2006
By Daljit Dhesi
PETALING JAYA: Kurnia Asia Bhd is scouting to acquire insurers in Asia in a bid to strengthen its foothold in the insurance industry in the region.
Director for operations and investor relations, James Tee, said the company hoped to close deals with some targeted insurance players in the region in the next 12 months.
"For the company to grow and be competitive, we would focus on M&A (merger and acquisition) activities and internal expansion. We are now actively talking to some insurers and are open to not only general insurance business, but also probably life as well as takaful," he told StarBiz after the company AGM yesterday.
"With more than RM95mil cash in hand and debt-free as well as having total assets exceeding RM2bil, Kurnia Asia has lots of room for organic and inorganic growth via M&A activities."
Currently with operations in the country, Thailand and Indonesia, the Kurnia group is the largest general insurer in Malaysia and South-East Asia, with gross premiums exceeding RM1bil.
On Kurnia's proposed acquisition of Commerce Assurance Bhd (CAB), Tee said the company hoped to know the outcome in the next few weeks, subject to approval from the relevant authorities.
"We have put in our bid and will wait for the results. All the bidders stand a chance of securing it."
Two other bidders for CAB are Allianz General Insurance Malaysia and AMMB Holdings Bhd.
Tee said Kurnia's interest in CAB was because the latter had a strong branch network and almost half of its business was non-motor related, which would help Kurnia's diversification exercise.
Tee said acquiring CAB would also help Kurnia reduce its management expenses and enjoy economies of scale.
Kurnia Insurans (M) Bhd CEO Kong Shu Yin said for internal expansion, the company would roll out innovative products that catered to the masses as well as niche markets.
The company, which plans to launch at least one product a month, recently launched eight new medical insurance products designed to provide protection against the rising cost of medical treatment for policyholders.