Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo enters with 6% stake in Ceylinco Insurance for Rs.1.9b

• First-ever investment by a Japanese insurance company in Sri Lanka

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd., the largest insurance company in Japan, yesterday bought 1.2 million shares amounting to 6% of CIESOT, the employee share ownership trust ofCeylinco Insurance PLC.

The shares were sold at Rs. 1,602 per share and the total transaction amounted to Rs. 1.92 billion (JPY 1.7 billion).

Ceylinco Insurance said that they were quite pleased with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Ltd. (MSI) entering the local market through Ceylinco Insurance. MSI is considered as the largest insurance company in Asia and holds an A+ rating.

Further, the Ceylinco Insurance maintained a strong business relationship with MSI forover 20 years fostering mutual trust and that Ceylinco Insurance will be able to offer an exemplary service with very competitive pricing particularly to the Japanese investors and projects here in Sri Lanka as well as others. Ceylinco Insurance is confident that this synergy will add further value and bring in more expertise to its activities and operations.

This is the first-ever investment by a Japanese insurance company in Sri Lanka and MSIisin the process of enhancing its business network in the South Asian region.

MSI said that they will promote Ceylinco Insurance to increase penetration in Sri Lanka andthat they will be able to work more closely with the Japanese corporates operating in Sri Lanka.

Ceylinco Insurance also added that Sri Lanka is attracting much attention from Japanese investors after the visit of Japanese Prime Minister ShinzoAbe, last September.