Two billion-dollar deals boosted insurance M&A activity in Asia-Pacific during the second quarter.

The Ardonagh Group Ltd.'s pending acquisition of PSC Insurance Group Ltd. was the biggest deal in the Asia-Pacific insurance market in the second quarter based on transaction value, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In May, the UK-based insurance broker entered into a scheme implementation deed to acquire all the issued ordinary shares of PSC Insurance for about $1.49 billion. The pending transaction is the largest deal with a publicly disclosed value in Ardonagh's history and represents its biggest bet on Asia-Pacific to date.

Ardonagh intends to merge PSC Insurance's Australia and New Zealand operations with Envest Pty. Ltd. following the transaction. The combined entity will become one of the largest privately owned insurance distribution platforms in Australia.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd.'s $1.03 billion offer to acquire the remaining 11.56% stake it does not already own in Singapore-based Great Eastern Holdings Ltd. was the second-largest deal during the period. The bank said it was considering a potential delisting for the insurer.

The bank has increased its total shareholding in Great Eastern to 93.32% from 88.44% through a voluntary unconditional general offer, which closed on July 12. Great Eastern clarified in a news release that the bank's general offer and the associated suspension of trading, which was due to the bank's ownership stake exceeding 90%, have "no impact whatsoever" on its insurance business and operations.

– Read about potential M&A activity in the global insurance sector on In Play Today, and a summary of recently announced deals on M&A Replay. – Access deep dives into insurance transactions across the globe via our Deal Profile feature. – Use the screener to access M&A data on the S&P Capital IQ Pro platform.

The planned sale of Suncorp Group Ltd.'s life insurance business in New Zealand to Resolution Life NOHC Pty Ltd., which was announced in April, ranked third. Resolution Life agreed to acquire Asteron Life Ltd. for $245.8 million in a transaction expected to complete within nine months.

The fourth-largest deal came from Australia. AUB Group Ltd. agreed to acquire a 70% equity stake in Pacific Indemnity Underwriting Solutions Pty. Ltd., a specialty underwriting agency, for $93.4 million. The transaction closed on July 1.

Australia, New Zealand saw the most deals in Q2

Most of the M&A transactions in the second quarter took place in Australia and New Zealand, where 10 out of 17 total insurance deals in the quarter occurred.

Some noteworthy deals from the region include Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.'s acquisition of Australia-based Prasidium Credit Insurance, which completed in April, and Howden Broking Ltd.'s acquisition of New Zealand-based Bridges Insurance Services Ltd., which closed in June.

Three of these deals occurred in Japan during the period, including Alpha Club Musashino Co. Ltd.'s acquisition of Kufu Small Amount & Short Term Insurance Co. Ltd. from Kufu Co. Inc. in April and S.T. Corp.'s acquisition of Chardan Co. Ltd. in May, which closed July 1.

There were also three insurance deals that involved targets in India. These include Arihant Capital Markets Ltd.'s pending divestment of a 100% equity stake in Arihant Insurance Broking Services Ltd., which is expected to complete by Dec. 31. UK-based Lockton Overseas Ltd. agreed to acquire Arihant Insurance in June under a share sale and purchase agreement.

All figures are in US dollars.