Talks on Lippo Life acquisition fail

JAKARTA (JP): Negotiations over the planned acquisition of publicly listed PT Asuransi Lippo Life by German insurance giant Allianz have failed to produce any agreement, a senior executive of the German company said here on Wednesday.

Manfred Wittau, also the president of PT Asuransi Allianz Utama Indonesia, said on Wednesday that a number of meetings had been held with the founders of the insurance unit of the Lippo Group to hammer out the acquisition plan, but both parties failed to reach an agreement.

"We have stopped our discussions without any conclusions," Wittau told the media.

He said acquiring local insurance companies was part of Allianze's strategy in strengthening its foothold in the Indonesian insurance market.

But he said the approach to acquisition would be carried out carefully.

"Allianz never approached or looked for an insurance company to acquire. But if any came to us we would be happy to consider it," he said at the soft opening of PT Asuransi Allianz Utama Indonesia's one-stop insurance outlet in the Summitmas building.

The company's director, Laurence Warburton, said the outlet would offer a comprehensive range of insurance services, namely policies in general, life and health insurance.

"Customers and agents will be able to obtain their policies in less than 24 hours and have their claims processed faster," he said.

Allianz operates two companies in Indonesia: general insurance firm PT Allianz Utama Indonesia and life insurance firm PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia.

Established in 1989, PT Allianz Utama, one of the leading foreign industrial insurers, covers large-scale public and private sector investment projects.

PT Allianz Utama is presently focusing more on its retail insurance clients as a lot of private as well as public investment projects in the country have been put on hold due to the economic crisis, said Warburton.

Retail insurance clients include policyholders on life, motor vehicle, house and small and medium-businesses.

Allianz AG of Germany has offices in 17 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore and Hong Kong were selected as the company's regional centers to manage its operations. Singapore hosts Allianz Insurance Management Asia Pacific, Allianz Reinsurance and Allianz Risk Management, while Hong Kong hosts Allianz Asset Management. (udi)