Last month, Bloomberg sources revealed that Zurich was looking to divest several of its non-core commercial assets in Australia to “streamline its portfolio” – particularly its Australian general insurance division, excluding its travel insurance arm.
This month, reports about Zurich’s sale of its Australian assets have continued, with The Australian revealing that the insurance giant is allegedly seeking $500 million for its general insurance business.
Over the past several years, Zurich’s business in Australia has expanded, thanks to acquisitions. In 2017, it completed its $722 million deal for Sydney-based Cover-More. Meanwhile, in 2019, it completed a $2.85 billion deal with ANZ’s life insurance business.
The latest sale comes after insurers won a second court case related to compensating clients suffering from COVID-19-related losses, averting billions in losses. It also follows others in the insurance space in recent years.
For example, Westpac sold its general insurance division to Allianz for $700 million last year, while CBA divested its general insurance unit for $1 billion to Hollard Australia this year to focus more on its core lending operations.
