Japan insurer Tokio Marine sees more M&A opportunities in North America

By Reuters

Oct 03, 2014 01:20 AM EDT

Japan's Tokio Marine Holdings Inc sees many attractive acquisition opportunities in North America, its chief executive said, even after spending more than $7 billion to buy insurance companies there in the last six years.

"There are still possible options in the North American market," Tsuyoshi Nagano, CEO and president of Japan's largest insurer by market capitalization, told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"The insurance market is big and there are many specialty companies. There are still many good targets."

Nagano, 61, took over in June last year from Shuzo Sumi, who in his six-year tenure acquired several overseas firms including U.S. insurer Philadelphia Consolidated for $4.7 billion and Lloyd's of London insurer Kiln for $671 million.

Nagano himself led the talks to buy U.S. insurer Delphi for about $2.7 billion in 2011, when he was a senior executive.

He also said his company is aiming to achieve a return on equity (ROE) of at least 8 percent during the next three years, up from 7.4 percent expected for the current financial year ending in March 2015.

"To become a global company, we need to clear at least 8 percent," he said, adding that overseas operations are expected to be a growth driver.

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