Prudential buys Assurance IQ for $2.35 billion in new tech bet
September 11, 2019 by Bharath ManjeshR
(Reuters) – Prudential Financial Inc is set to buy online insurance startup Assurance IQ Inc for $2.35 billion, the latest in a series of moves by traditional insurers to up investment in technology and data crunching by buying Silicon Valley startups.
Shares of Prudential, which have struggled in the year since Charles Lowrey took over as chief executive officer, rose 3% in morning trade on the news of the deal. They fell 21% in August after poorer-than-expected quarterly results.
Labelled “insuretech”, Assurance and peers such as California-based Health IQ and Clover Health have drawn eyes over the past year with disruptive models that use data crunching and artificial intelligence to boost revenue and cut costs.
Andrew Sullivan, who heads Prudential’s retirement and group insurance businesses, said in a call with analysts that Assurance brought with it 17 million customers in need of insurance.
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