The merger announced Friday by nonlife insurers Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. and Nipponkoa Insurance Co. comes at a time when slumping car and house sales and the global financial crisis are squeezing the industry for profits, analysts said.
Sompo, Japan's third-largest nonlife insurer, and Nipponkoa, the fifth-largest, said in a statement that they would integrate under a holding company in 2010, creating a behemoth with ¥1.09 trillion in combined net assets.
Insurers hope the 2010 integration will strengthen their finances and allow them to take more aggressive measures to expand.