The deal, which was initially announced back in February, has officially been actioned via a members’ scheme of arrangement valued at around $416.8 million.
ClearView shareholders will receive a cash consideration of $0.60 per share in addition to a fully franked dividend of $0.05 per share that was paid on 12 August.
This has been a long process for Zurich with the deal undergoing an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) probe at the end of April before it could be approved because it exceeded the $250 million transaction threshold.
The ACCC gave the go-ahead in mid-May, after which the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) also had to sign off.
Shareholders were the final guardians of the deal but a vote held at the end of July saw ClearView shareholders wave it through with a 99.34 per cent approval.
Now that the deal is officially done, Zurich head of retail Tim Kane told ifa that the main incentive to acquire ClearView was the pursuit of scale which has become increasingly important across financial services in recent years.
“It adds scale to our life insurance business, and we want to continue to provide choice to advisers and to customers in the Australian market. So, they’re the main reasons that we acquire ClearView. It’s a pure life insurance advised business, and we thought it fit very nicely next to our existing propositions.”
Chief executive Justin Delaney said: “This transaction marks the creation of one of Australia’s largest and fastest-growing life insurers at a time when advice-led protection, prevention and financial security has never been more important.
“By bringing together Zurich’s leading technology capability and balance sheet strength with ClearView’s established and well-regarded products and market relationships, advisers and customers will benefit from continuity of choice under the efficiency of a single, best-in-class platform.”
While Clearview will be rolled under the Zurich umbrella, Kane said they intend to keep the ClearView branding, much like it did when the insurer acquired ANZ’s life business back in 2019.
“Our intention is to keep the Clearview brand and the Clear Choice product open to new business. So Clear Choice will sit alongside our existing products, that being Zurich and OnePath on sale from Q2 in 2027.
“We obviously made the decision to keep OnePath open when we acquired OnePath from ANZ. It did take us a little while to stop getting questions around you know how long we were going to keep the product open. Advisers eventually believed us, and so when we’re out there talking to market at the moment, there’s a sense that they know what we’re doing. We’ll have the three products, and everyone seems quite excited about it.”
The immediate impact for Zurich and ClearView will be minimal, with Kane stating it will largely a “business as usual”.
“The way that advisers interact with ClearView, the contacts they have at ClearView will be the same, and we’re looking at a couple of different milestones.
“The product that they love is going to remain open to new business, we’ll continue to invest in that product. Some of the features and things they like about the product, we have no intention of taking those away, and if anything, we want to be really deliberate about our three propositions that we have in market and how we provide more choice and cover more Australians.”
ClearView has also now delisted from the ASX as of 21 August, according to market announcement, as a result of the merger.
Meanwhile, Zurich there are plans to launch a digital platform over the next year designed at making it easier for advisers to access the full suite of products in one place.
“We’re currently building our quote and apply system and a digital platform internally. We aim to launch the Zurich proposition on that platform later this year, and then OnePath and ClearView in early 2027 so you’ll be able to access the three products on one platform.”
As for any further M&A plans, Kane said it’s unlikely at least in the short-to-medium term that any purchases will occur.
“I think you can see the market is pretty consolidated already so no intentions from us at this point.”
This marks the first major merger in the life industry the December 2024 when MLC Life Insurance and Resolution Life Australasia merged to form Acenda Group following the total acquisition of Resolution Life’s Australasian subsidiary by Japanese life insurance firm Nippon Life Insurance Company.
In addition to acquiring 100 per cent of Resolution Life Australasia, Nippon Life Insurance Company also acquired the remaining 20 per cent share of MLC Life that National Australia Bank (NAB) had retained since 2016, when Nippon initially acquired an 80 per cent stake in the insurer.
The merger was officially finalised on 31 October 2025, formally establishing Acenda Group as one of the largest life insurance businesses in Australia and New Zealand.