Dai-ichi Life Nearing $4.9 Billion Deal with Protective Life

Hiruki Nakamura
02 Jun, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo advanced after investors looked overseas and the yen eased. Dai-ichi Life Insurance is said to be nearing purchase of the U.S. based Protective Life Corp for at least $4.9 billion.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo advanced after investors looked overseas and the yen eased. Dai-ichi Life Insurance is said to be nearing purchase of the U.S. based Protective Life Corp for at least $4.9 billion.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo advanced for the eighth day in a row after China reported a slight improvement on manufacturing industry outlook.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 303.54 or 2.1% to 14,935.92 and the broader Topix index jumped 19.06 or 1.6% to 1,220.47.

The yen closed at 102 against one U.S. dollar.

Purchasing Manager’s Index increased to 50.8 in May, the highest reading since December, the National Bureau of Statistics and China’s Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said today in Beijing.

Stocks in Review

Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd declined 4.9% to 1.433 yen after the Nikkei reported that the insurer intends to acquire the U.S.-based Protective Life Corp. for about 500 billion yen or $4.9 billion.

A separate news report said that the insurer is looking to raise 200 billion yen to fund the purchase of Alabama-based insurance company.

East Japan Railway Company rose 1.1% to 7,849 yen after the railway company completed its share repurchase program of 1.5 million for a total of 15 billion yen.

ITO EN, LTD increased 1% to 2,348 yen after the tea and beverage seller reported net sales in the year ending in April jumped 8.4% to 437.76 billion yen from 403.96 billion yen a year ago.

Net income in the year climbed 7.6% to 12.10 billion yen compared to 11.24 billion yen and diluted earnings per share increased to 95.49 yen from 88.39 yen a year earlier.

Nomura Real Estate Residential Fund Inc closed unchanged at 504,000 yen and the real estate developer forecasted net revenue in the first-half ending in November of 5.41 billion yen and net income of 1.83 billion yen. Earnings per share was estimated at 11,351 yen.

Panasonic Corporation jumped 2.6% to 1,122 yen after the electronic products maker plans to spend 255 billion yen in Japan.

Toyota Motor Corp gained 1% to 5,822 yen after the Nikkei newspaper said auto-maker plans to invest about 500 billion yen in domestic facilities in the current fiscal year.