By Miyu Okada
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Major Japanese non-life insurance group Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. aims to develop a wide range of fields both in Japan and abroad to solidify its business foundation, President Masahiro Koike said during a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
"We will further diversify our portfolio to enhance resilience against geopolitical risks," Koike said.
The company will consider conducting mergers and acquisitions in a wide range of sectors, including cybersecurity, based on the appropriateness of the companies' acquisition price, their profitability and whether the M&A would strengthen the group's competitiveness, according to Koike.
The following is excerpted from the interview.
The Yomiuri Shimbun: Please explain your future business strategy.
Masahiro Koike: We will seek growth in the domestic market by expanding our business of providing risk solutions, putting focus on measures aimed at mitigating damages from disasters and accidents and implementing preventative strategies to avert similar occurrences in the future. At the same time, we will further diversify our portfolio overseas to enhance resilience against geopolitical risks. Through these efforts, we aim to create a stronger overall business model.
It all comes down to continuing what we have been doing. We are enacting reforms to achieve growth in our domestic insurance business. Overseas, it is important to conduct M&A when good opportunities arise, amid a global increase in activity for M&A. Valuations remain very high for large-scale M&A, so it will be necessary to carefully assess whether each case truly represents a good opportunity for us.
Yomiuri: In which sectors are you considering M&A?
Koike: We are seeking companies that can become partners in our solutions business, such as those in healthcare, mobility and decarbonization. We also want to explore opportunities in the field of cybersecurity.
Yomiuri: At what scale will Tokio Marine conduct M&A abroad?
Koike: We don't have a specific monetary figure in mind. It's better to focus more on how much we can further improve our competitive edge (with M&A) rather than just pursuing a certain scale. We have three principles: whether (the target company) has a culture that suits us, a strong business model and high profitability. Those principles are becoming increasingly important recently. We want to focus on expanding our business ecosystem while sustaining those principles. I've emphasized that to the heads of each business unit.
Yomiuri: Are you thinking of breaking away from being overdependent on the U.S. market?
Koike: Our basic principle is to further diversify our portfolio, so ideally speaking, it's better to achieve more growth in markets outside the United States. In the short term, however, the United States will remain our largest market, and it offers the most opportunities in terms of M&A. On the one hand, we need to consider which regions and business areas we need to put more focus on, and on the other hand, we need to act appropriately when companies that align with our three principles emerge in markets, like the United States, where we have a strong presence. We need to strike a balance between these two ideas from the perspective of diversifying our business with a medium- to long-term perspective of 10 to 15 years. We have finite resources in M&A, so we need to identify targets by having both a medium- to long-term vision and short-term perspective.
Yomiuri: Do you have any idea when you'll conduct M&A overseas?
Koike: Some companies have approached us having anticipated the funds we gained from selling cross-held shares. However, it is crucial to assess whether the price (of an acquisition) is appropriate.
Even if a company aligns with our three acquisition principles, we shouldn't proceed unless we are confident that we can create value commensurate with the acquisition price. Finding the right balance is difficult. We must constantly weigh future market trends -- whether profitability will increase or competition will intensify -- while maintaining balance.
----
This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.
YDN-M0000170419-1
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 06, 2026 00:29 ET (05:29 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 The Yomiuri Shimbun
Comments