With one acquisition, Liberty Mutual Insurance has become a dominant player in Chile, a decade after first entering the market there.
The Massachusetts-based property/casualty insurer said it has completed plans to buy 99.6 percent of Compañía de Seguros Generales Penta Security S.A. (Penta Security) in Chile.
Financial terms were not disclosed. But Penta Security is Chile’s fourth largest non-life insurer. Liberty Mutual said the acquisition, combined with its existing company there, Liberty Compañía de Seguros Generales S.A., makes it Chile’s largest property/casualty insurance player.
Why make the acquisition? For one thing, Chile is part of a broader Latin American market that is growing rapidly. There’s also plenty of compatibility at play. Liberty Mutual said Penta Security has a diverse range of personal and commercial insurance products compatible with those offered by Liberty Seguros. What’s more, Liberty Mutual said it, and Penta Security, generated $236.2 million and $312.1 million in direct written premiums, respectively, as of 2014. The goal, of course, is to grow that to a much large market share down the line.
“Expansion in Chile is of strategic importance to our goal to build scale in successful, existing markets,” Louis Bonell, president of business unit Liberty Mutual International, said in prepared remarks.
Liberty Mutual’s Latin America reach is not inconsequential. Beyond Chile, it also includes Brazil, Columbia and Ecuador. It also does business in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Ireland and Russia. In Asia, Liberty Mutual’s market penetration includes Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia, China (and Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Liberty Mutual’s Chile arm needs a leader, and the insurer has named Fernando Cámbara Lodigiani to be CEO of its operations there. He was already CEO of Penta Security and will lead a management team made up of executives from both companies.
Source: Liberty Mutual Insurance