DB Insurance acquires Vietnam's 10th largest insurer VNI

DB Insurance has acquired Vietnam National Aviation Insurance (VNI), Vietnam's 10th-largest property and casualty(P&C) insurance company. With an eye to Vietnam's market growth potential, the Korean insurer decided to purchase the Vietnamese company for the second time in eight years since 2015.

DB Insurance said on Friday that it had acquired on Feb. 22 a 75% stake in VNI in Hanoi, Vietnam. Established in 2008, VNI ranks 10th out of 32 P&C insurers in Vietnam with a market share of 3.7% as of 2021.

With assets totaling 181.1 billion won ($138.7 million) and annual sales of 113.3 billion won ($86.8 million), VNI is a valuable addition to DB Insurance 's portfolio, particularly as it has a nationwide sales and claims network and a significant market share in auto insurance.

This marks DB Insurance's second acquisition of a insurance company in Vietnam, after it purchased a 37.32% stake in Post and Telecommunications Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PTI) in 2015, which it grew into the country's third largest P&C insurer.

DB Insurance is optimistic about VNI's growth potential in the Vietnamese market, which has grown by about 11% a year on average in the past decade to reach annual insurance premiums worth 3.2 trillion won ($2.45 billion).

DB Insurance's decision to acquire VNI was based on Vietnam's high economic growth potential, young demographics, external openness, and accessibility to neighboring countries in the Indochina Peninsula.

DB Insurance plans to complete the acquisition of VNI's shares and licenses during the first half of the year and undertake post-merger integration based on a localization strategy.

Write to In-Hyeok Lee at twopeople@hankyung.com