Digital insurer ZhongAn Online Property & Casualty Insurance has reportedly received a $100m strategic investment from SoftBank Vision Fund.
Following the investment, SoftBank will hold a majority stake in the company, according to various reports in the media. It will also look to use some ZhongAn’s technology with some of the company’s it portfolio.
Through a shareholder agreement, ZhongAn will build a new operating entity which will work with SoftBank to identify other international opportunities to implement ZhongAn’s technology, within the insurance, FinTech and healthcare spaces, the articles state.
The deal was made to support the growth of ZhongAn’s insurance solution outside of China and into overseas market, according to various reports in the media. An initial expansion focus will be put towards the Asian market.
ZhongAn is a property insurance platform which offers policies for travel, online payments, health and automobiles, among others. Founded in 2013, the platform allows users to access personalised pricing models, which is supported by its technologies analytics.
Last year, it was reported ZhongAn closed its IPO on $1.5bn, following the listing of 199.3 million shares priced $7.65 apiece. As part of the sale, it was alleged that SoftBank would acquire five per cent of the company’s shares in a deal worth around $550m.
Earlier in the month, it was reported SoftBank was among the parties interested in a ‘triple-digit-million’ euro equity round of Wefox. The company, which provides an online insurance support platform, is reportedly looking to a number of different investors to support its new round.
The bank also recently teamed up with Yahoo Japan to launch PayPay, a smartphone-based payments platform. Set for an Autumn launch, the platform will give users a single location to store their credit card and billing information, and conduct mobile payments.
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