ALICO Japan
2010
$1.5B
Why
Aflac acquired the Japanese life insurance operations of AIG (ALICO) to significantly expand its market share, diversify its product offerings, and solidify its dominant position in the profitable Japanese insurance market.
Impact
The acquisition added over $3 billion in annual premiums to Aflac's top line and increased its market share in Japan, creating a diversified book of business that included life, medical, and cancer insurance products. Aflac has historically grown primarily through organic sales-force expansion and product innovation rather than acquisition, making the ALICO deal a rare exception to its usual capital-allocation approach and reflecting how significant an opportunity Aflac's board judged it to be.
Outcome
The integration was successful, allowing Aflac to cross-sell its products to ALICO's existing customer base and achieve significant cost synergies, making Aflac Japan the undisputed leader in the Japanese insurance market. The disciplined, infrequent approach to M&A has let Aflac maintain unusually consistent underwriting margins compared to insurers that grew more through serial acquisitions.