Japan's Daiichi Life unit tables offer to take over Australia's Challenger

Oct 19 : A unit of Japan's Daiichi Life has made an indicative proposal to buy more than 79 per cent of shares in Australian investment manager Challenger it does not already own, Challenger said on Monday.

Under the proposal, the Japanese insurer is offering A$11.80 apiece, valuing Challenger at A$7.94 billion ($5.53 billion). The offer represents a premium of 19.8 per cent over the stock's closing price on Friday.

The unit, TAL Daiichi Life Australia Pty, holds 20.36 per cent of the Australian investment manager, according to LSEG. Daiichi Life, through its unit, had initially acquired a 15.1 per cent minority stake in Challenger from MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings in April 2025.

The takeover proposal is subject to a number of conditions including satisfactory completion of due diligence, Challenger said on Monday.

"The Board of Challenger is considering the indicative offer," the Australian firm added.

Daiichi Life did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment outside business hours.

Separately, Challenger reported a 5 per cent rise in its assets under management to $31.9 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, citing strong sales momentum across both domestic and offshore annuities.