MAPFRE Insular Insurance Corp. (Mapfre Insurance) is now officially Oona Insular Insurance Corp. (Oona Insurance) after receiving the approval from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This comes after Mapfre Internacional SA of Spain divested its business interests in Asia last October while The Insular Life Assurance Company, Ltd. (InLife) increased its stake in its non-life insurance business to 40%. Warburg Pincus, a global growth investor, set up Oona in Southeast Asia (SEA) with a $350 million equity commitment.
Oona Insurance aims to continue the growth of existing distribution channels; agency force, banking and broking partnerships through digitally enabled tools and processes, while also expanding its digital business portfolio in the SEA region.
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“This approval helps us move forward as a new brand and marks the start of our transformational journey from a good company into one of the most formidable general insurers in the market,” said Abhishek Bhatia, Group CEO and director of Oona Insurance. “We are all set to provide quality services to our customers, enabled by digital systems and processes on all fronts.”
Oona Insurance will continue offering a wide range of products including motor, property, and group health insurance. The company will also introduce new products such as new age lines, cyber risk and health insurance, as well as solutions that are emerging on the back of increasing adoption of the internet, e-commerce, and digital payments.
“InLife believes that this joint venture will enable us to expand our reach and relevance to the insuring public. We will provide stronger and better general insurance products delivered through current and future distribution channels using technology to scale up,” said Nina Aguas, executive chair of Insular Life.