TOKYO/HONG KONG, July 26 (Reuters) - Meiji Yasuda LifeInsurance Co said on Friday it has agreed to buy a 15 percentstake in Thai Life Insurance Co as Japanese insurers step uptheir presence in Southeast Asia.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, butReuters reported last month that Meiji Yasuda would pay about$700 million for the stake.
Meiji Yasuda, Japan's second-largest life insurer by premiumincome after Nippon Life Insurance Co, beat SumitomoLife Insurance Co to enter final negotiations in anauction that also attracted private equity firms Carlyle GroupLP, KKR & Co and CVC Capital Partners.
Meiji Yasuda's purchase will make it the fourth financialservices acquisition by a Japanese firm in Southeast Asia thisyear, bringing the year-to-date total value of Japanese M&Adeals in the region to $6.6 billion.
Barclays advised Thai Life on the deal, Thai Life said in astatement. J.P. Morgan advised Meiji, sources previouslytold Reuters.