Insurance Industry M&A Takes Huge Leap In 4Q 2019

Total insurance industry merger-and-acquisition deals in the fourth quarter 2019 totaled $11.43 billion in the U.S., according to GlobalData’s deals database.

The value marked an increase of 174% over the previous quarter and a rise of 355% when compared with the four-quarter average of $2.5 billion. The U.S. held a 56.5% share of the global insurance industry M&A deal value of $20.24 billion in Q4 2019, GlobalData said.

In terms of deal activity, the U.S. recorded 108 deals during Q4 2019, marking a drop of 14.3% over the previous quarter and a drop of 10% over the last four-quarter average, GlobalData said.

The top five insurance industry M&A deals accounted for 99.8% of the overall value during Q4 2019, with a combined total value of $11.41 billion.

The top five insurance industry deals of Q4 2019 tracked by GlobalData were:

• New York Life Insurance’s $6.3 billion asset transaction with Cigna
• The $3.1 billion acquisition of Privilege Underwriters by HCC Insurance (Inactive)
• Resolution Life Holdings’ $1.25 billion asset transaction with Voya Financial
• The $720 million acquisition of IAS Parent Holdings by IA Financial Group
• NI’s acquisition of Westminster American Insurance for $40 million.