Challenger said there’s no certainty that a binding offer or transaction will materialise, after an indicative bid from TAL Daiichi Life Australia wasn’t at a level it could recommend to shareholders, according to a statement Monday.

Daiichi Life’s Australian unit last week offered to buy the remaining 79.5% of Challenger at A$11.80 per share, valuing the financial firm at about A$7.9 billion (US$5.5 billion).

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Ingram said Challenger’s sum-of-the-parts is above the bid. “A revised offer of A$12.50-A$13 per share might be more agreeable” to the board, he wrote Monday.

Shares of Challenger and Daiichi Life were little changed on Monday.

Japanese insurers have been making acquisitions overseas as a shrinking population constrains growth at home. Daiichi Life and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co were among bidders for the Singaporean insurance unit of HSBC Holdings Plc, though Allianz SE eventually emerged as the buyer. Sompo Holdings Inc bought Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd for about US$3.5 billion earlier this year.

Established in 1985, Challenger managed about A$128 billion in assets as of the end of March, according to its website. The company is Australia’s largest provider of annuities in the nation’s retirement market.

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