Macquarie sells life insurance to Zurich Australia

Macquarie Group has sold its life insurance business to Zurich Australia, marking the latest major Australian bank to offload its exposure to the sector amid rising capital requirements and mixed performances. Price details were not released, however, the terms were "not material" to the group; the deal remains subject to regulatory and court approvals and is expected to complete in the second half of 2016. National Australia Bank sold 80% of its life insurance business to Nippon Life for $2.4bn last year.

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.