Insurance Australia Group plans acquisitions worth around A$100 million ($102 million) in Indonesia

(Reuters) - Insurance Australia Group plans acquisitions worth around A$100 million ($102 million) in Indonesia, one of its target markets, to double gross written premium contribution from Asia to 10 percent by 2016, its Asia head said.

IAG, Australia's top car and home insurer, has businesses in Thailand, Malaysia, India, China and Vietnam. It is scouting for acquisitions or joint ventures to enter Indonesia to tap rapid growth in Asia.

"While we have said that A$250 million is close to the upper limit we would normally spend on any bolt-on Asian acquisitions, we would expect that anything in Indonesia would be less than that - perhaps around the A$100 million mark," said Justin Breheny, Asia chief executive.

Indonesia's general insurance market is fragmented and thus deals can be smaller. Last month ACE Ltd announced a deal to buy PT Asuransi Jaya Proteksi, one of Indonesia's top 10 general insurers, for $130 million.

IAG has already invested A$720 million in Asia representing about 15 percent of the group's net asset base and expects the investment to ring in premiums and achieve a return on equity of 15 percent before development costs by 2017.

"We have a responsibility to the next generation of management and shareholders. We have to put in place the blocks for profit and revenue growth and the answer is Asia," said Breheny, who has spent 20 years in Asia including 14 with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

IAG in a presentation to shareholders said non-life gross written premium in emerging Asia would more than double to $424 billion by 2020.

Breheny said he would not hurry with an acquisition in Indonesia citing a measured M&A approach that has seen the firm finalise just five deals out 80 examined over the past few years.

IAG reported a 9.7 percent growth in gross written premium to A$4.3 billion for the six months to December with more than 80 percent of that coming from Australia and New Zealand.

It wants its joint ventures in India and China to break even by 2015 and bring in gross written premiums of close to A$2 billion by 2017 as part of its push to diversify revenues. ($1 = 0.9797 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram)

sumber: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/11/iag-indonesia-acquisitions-idINL3E8IB01020120711