Munich Re-Owned Australian Travel Insurer Seeks Asia Expansion Through China Acquisition

Australia-based travel insurance and assistance provider Cover-More Group said it intends to grow in Asia by acquiring Assistance Online, a Shanghai-based medical assistance company in China.

Cover-More will finalize the acquisition in April, and Assistance Online will become its wholly owned subsidiary, said Sydney-based Asia communications manager Maureen Mullins.

"Travel insurance is our core business and we expect there will be a double-digit growth in the number of people traveling in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years," she added.

The group was on an "active acquisitive strategy in Asia, particularly in the area of health and medical assistance for travelers and mobile work forces," said Peter Edwards, chief executive officer of Cover-More Group, in a statement.

The acquisition is part of the group's strategic push into Asia, a region that is expected to show the world's strongest growth in leisure and business travel in the next five to 10 years, noted Edwards.

After the acquisition, Cover-More will rely on the experience and expertise of Assistance Online and enhance this with the group's existing assistance business. The parties will use their combined capacity to extend the level of available assistance for both in-bound and out-bound leisure travelers and corporate travelers in China and across the region, he said.

Assistance Online provides medical and travel assistance and third-party administration services from 24-hour call center facilities in Shanghai. It also has network providers in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan and Mongolia, assisting local insurance companies, corporate and individual clients by providing immediate support.

Cover-More has operations in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The company said it has a customer base of more than 1 million travelers every year. The Australian travel insurer trades as Great Lakes Australia, which is a branch of and is underwritten by U.K.-based Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany-based global reinsurer Munich Re.

Great Lakes is authorized by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to operate as a general insurer in Australia. The company was originally formed in Canada in 1951. It was then acquired by Munich Re in 1975 and established Great Lakes in the United Kingdom in 1987.

Both Munich Re and Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) plc currently have a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior).

(By Rebecca Ng, Hong Kong news editor: [email protected])