Macquarie Sells Life Insurance Unit to Zurich Insurance

   By Robb M. Stewart

MELBOURNE, Australia--Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG.AU) has agreed to sell its life insurance business to the Australian arm of Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURN.VX), a move the Australian bank said reflected the need for significant scale to drive returns in the capital-intensive insurance industry.

The value of the deal wasn't disclosed, although Macquarie said Friday it wasn't material.

The deal remains subject to regulatory and court approvals, and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2016, Macquarie said.

With the sale, Macquarie Life's staff in Australia will transfer to Zurich and policyholders will become customers of Zurich Australia with no change in the terms of their coverage, the two companies said in separate statements.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2016 23:27 ET (04:27 GMT)

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