Confirmed: Allianz Withdraws Its Offer to Buy Income Insurance

Remember what happened earlier in July this year?

No, we’re not talking about the Iswaran saga or the Labubu craze. We’re talking about the Income-Allianz deal.

Allianz has just confirmed that it is withdrawing its offer to acquire a majority stake in Income Insurance. Here’s a summary of everything you need to know about it.

TLDR: The Income-Allianz Deal

If the phrase “Income-Allianz deal” doesn’t ring a bell, all we can say is this — you should probably stop spending so much time on TikTok, and read some news instead.

The Income-Allianz deal was a deal where German insurer Allianz would acquire a 51% stake in Income Insurance for about $2.2 billion.

When the deal was first announced in July, a huge public outcry was triggered.

Many were concerned about whether the deal would be in the public interest.

As such, in October, the gahmen stepped in and said: “Eh, like that, cannot lah…”

Ok lah, we’re kidding — it’s a lot more nuanced than that. The government had taken the position that while they supported the spirit of the Income-Allianz deal, they were concerned with the structure and terms of the deal.

Simi terms? Well, it mostly has to do with the assurances which Income had given to the Ministry for Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) when Income was corporatised in 2022.

If you’d like to find out more about these assurances and the government’s position on the deal, Blue Cat explains it all in this video here:

Allianz Withdraws its Offer to Acquire Majority Stake in Income Insurance

But now, the twist of the year has finally come to an end — Allianz has withdrawn its offer to acquire a majority stake in Income Insurance.

On Monday (16 December), Allianz stated in a media release that it withdrew its offer in light of the Singapore government’s position on the deal — yes, the position we mentioned above.

The German insurer added that it respected the Singapore government’s decision.

Regardless, it seems that the “break up” between Allianz and Income Insurance was amicable.

Allianz stated: “We still believe the combination of Allianz and Income Insurance would result in two strong businesses being brought together for the benefit of Income Insurance’s policyholders and a growing portion of Singapore’s customers.”

Perhaps there will be a season 2 to the Income-Allianz deal? Well, we don’t know for sure, but stay tuned. 

It also added: “We regret having to make this decision but we will, without question, carry on supporting the Singapore insurance market’s continued growth and success.”

On the other end, NTUC Enterprise, the majority shareholder of Income Insurance, shared that it acknowledged Allianz’s decision to withdraw its offer.

It also added that it will study how to respond to the government’s concerns, and would consider all options which could further strengthen Income Insurance’s financial resilience.

Because after all, the Income-Allianz deal was meant to do exactly that — to strengthen Income Insurance’s financial resilience, especially after the whole saga that was COVID-19.

“If the COVID-19 pandemic had been prolonged, and more capital had been needed, NTUC Enterprise alone may not have been able to meet Income Insurance’s further financial needs. That was the key reason for considering an additional strategic partner for Income Insurance,” NTUC Enterprise shared.