A subsidiary of the US/European group is buying a Mexican life insurance business, part of moves to step up presence in the country.

A Mexican subsidiary of wealth structuring solutions firm Lombard International has agreed to acquire a life insurance business from Principal Seguros, enabling the business to drive growth in Mexican and Latin American high net worth markets.

Lombard International’s Mexican joint venture business is called Akaan Lombard International. Its acquisition of Principal Seguros’s operation is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close later this year, a statement said.

The deal means that Akaan obtains about 8,000 Mexican clients.

A player in fields such as private placement life insurance and other structures, Lombard International, which was launched in 2015, is owned by funds overseen by Blackstone Group, and is based in Luxembourg and the US, with more than €41.2 billion ($47.7 billion) of assets under administration (Dec 31, 2017.)

The market for services such as private placement life insurance – part of a wealth management toolkit – has drawn some controversy in recent months. In late May, a news report focused on how PPLI could dramatically cut taxes on certain investments. Blackstone and Lombard International did not comment at the time.