TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia announced today the completion of its acquisition of Westpac’s Australian life business, a year after the two parties agreed to the deal.

The transaction comprises of a cash consideration of $900 million plus adjusted net worth on completion as well as a 20-year exclusive strategic distribution alliance for the provision of life products to the bank’s customers.

The distribution partnership starts today and so does the transfer of all of Westpac’s life insurance business and all existing life policies to the TAL Group.

The 345 Westpac life employees will also join TAL, a fully owned subsidiary of Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Group.

“The completion of the Westpac Life business acquisition, alongside the strategic alliance with Westpac, is another significant step towards TAL’s goal of protecting more Australians in more ways, throughout their lives,” CEO and MD Brett Clark said.

“We are looking forward to working with Westpac through our partnership to provide Westpac customers with access to high-quality life insurance solutions that meet their diverse needs throughout different stages of their lives.”

Westpac says it expects to report a total after-tax loss on sale of about $1.37 billion from the transaction, of which $270 million was incurred in the bank’s 2021 financial year results.

The bank says about $1.1 billion in after-tax loss will be classified as a notable item in its 2022 financial year results. The figure primarily relates to the difference between the sale proceeds of $900 million and the carrying value of net assets in the business.

“This sale is another important step in simplifying our business,” Westpac Specialist Businesses Chief Executive Jason Yetton said in a news release today to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We have now completed Westpac’s exit of insurance underwriting following the sales of our General Insurance and Lenders Mortgage Insurance businesses in Australia, as well as Life Insurance in New Zealand.”