HONG KONG, Jan 13 (Reuters) - ACE Ltd has agreed tobuy a 60.9 percent stake in Thailand's Siam Commercial SamaggiInsurance PCL for about $185 million as foreigninsurers step up their presence in underdeveloped SoutheastAsian insurance markets.
Bangkok-based Siam Commercial Samaggi is an autos, smallcommercial, personal accident insurer and distributes itsproducts through both Siam Commercial Bank branches andindependent agents. It had about $138 million in gross premiumswritten in 2012.
Shares in Siam Commercial Samaggi were up 13 percent onMonday, while the benchmark Thailand stock index wasdown 0.2 percent. Siam Commercial Bank owns 24 percent of SiamCommercial Samaggi, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The deal comes despite the ongoing political unrest inThailand, which has weighed on Thailand's currency and its stockmarkets as anti-government forces are determined to oust PrimeMinister Yingluck Shinawatra..
In 2013, Thailand was Asia-Pacific's sixth-busiest M&Amarket, with $15.3 billion worth of deals, according to ThomsonReuters data.
Southeast Asia has been active market for bank and insurancedeal making last year. Last year, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group(MUFG) agreed to buy 72 percent of Thailand's Bank ofAyudhya Pcl for $5.31 billion and Meiji Yasua LifeInsurance Co agreed to pay about $700 million to buy a 15percent stake in unlisted Thai Life Insurance Co.
Barclays plc and Siam Commercial Bank's investmentbanking unit was the sell side adviser, while Citigroup advised ACE, a person familiar with the matter said.