Italian insurance company Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A (Generali) announced on Thursday that it had bought the minority stake it did not already own in Generali Asia Ltd. According to Reuters, Generali entered into the acquisition deal to simplify its business structure in the fast-growing Asian region. 

Generali bought a 40% stake in Generali Asia from the Malaysian conglomerate Kuok Group. The deal was worth EUR40 million (USD54 million), said the Italian insurer in a statement released to Reuters. 

Generali is the largest life and non-life insurance company in Italy and one of the largest in the European region, based on its Yahoo Finance profile. Based on its 2012 annual report, the insurer has a total of EUR441.74 assets and EUR22.57 billion equity under management. It has registered a revenue of EUR88.55 billion in the same year. 

Meanwhile, Generali Asia is a joint venture of Swiss bank Banca della Svizzera Italiana and Generali, Bloomberg said. It controls the operations of Generali in Asia including Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines, the report stated.