News: IAG accelerates Asian expansion

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Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX:IAG) is expanding into Malaysia’s insurance market with a $235 million investment into a new business.



Australia’s largest insurer says its 49 per cent-owned Malaysian associate, AmG Insurance Berhad, has inked a deal to acquire Kurnia for a total of $480 million.



The acquisition is expected to make AmG the largest general insurer in Malaysia.



Separately IAG announced yesterday it has entered into the Chinese insurance market through acquiring a 20 per cent stake in China’s Bohai Property Insurance, for a reported sum of $100 million. 



IAG reported a net profit of $167 million in the first half of its 2012 financial year.