Prudential Financial and Bank Simpanan Nasional Purchases Uni.Asia Life Assurance Berhad Via New JV

Prudential Financial, Inc. ("PFI"), which does business as Pramerica in selected countries outside the U.S., and Bank Simpanan Nasional ("BSN") announced they have completed their purchase of 100 percent of Uni.Asia Life Assurance Berhad's ("UAL") issued and paid- up ordinary share capital ("UAL Shares") from Uni.Asia Capital Sdn Bhd ("UAC") through a newly formed joint venture.

Under the previously announced transaction terms, PICA and BSN paid a total cash consideration of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 518 million (approximately $160 million) for the UAL Shares. PFI's ownership is through a subsidiary, The Prudential Insurance Company of America ("PICA"), which holds 70 percent of the UAL Shares, while BSN holds the remaining 30 percent.

With the closing of the agreement, PFI said that UAL will have the opportunity to develop customized solutions for BSN's customers and develop a more integrated bancassurance platform that fully leverages BSN's distribution network and customer base. UAL will also continue to sell its products through Pos Malaysia Berhad ("POS Malaysia"), the exclusive provider of mail services in Malaysia, through its 1,000 retail outlets across the country.

Jan van den Berg, president of PFI's Asia region (excluding Japan), said, "We are pleased to enter Malaysia with BSN, Malaysia's premier savings institution with a strong bancassurance distribution channel throughout the nation, as our partner. We look forward to working with them to develop more needs-based solutions that help drive greater insurance penetration across BSN's customer base and transform BSN into one of Malaysia's leading conventional bancassurance providers."

"This partnership complements BSN's mission to help people across Malaysia improve their financial security," said Datuk Adinan Maning, Chief Executive Officer of BSN. "We look forward to working with our new partners at PFI to help BSN broaden its range of products and deliver even more value to customers across Malaysia."

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