"Thailand, with 65 million people, its growing GDP, industrial base and middle class was one place where our absence was glaringly obvious. We were a very small player, number 11 in the market and that's not the place we like to have," Thiam told CNBC's " The Call " on Monday. Before the deal,, Prudential's market share in Thailand stood at just 2 percent, much smaller than in Indonesia, for example, where it holds a 20 percent market share. The purchase of Thanachart Life Assurance is expected to double the company's market share in Asia's fifth largest economy. Prudential and Thanachart Bank have a 15-year partnership, under the deal, to jointly develop their bancassurance business in Thailand. Bancassurance is a partnership between a bank and an insurance company which allows the insurance company to sell its products to the bank's client base. "The 15-year exclusive long-term distribution deal really puts us in a good position in the Thai market.