Dai-ichi Life has taken a major step forward in a takeover battle against digital healthcare provider M3, which first launched a tender offer in November after reaching an agreement with Pasona, which owns a majority of Benefit One, its healthcare platform subsidiary.

Dai-ichi Life will launch a tender offer for Benefit One as early as mid-February, paying 2,173 yen ($14.61) per share, the Nikkei reported, well over M3's bid of 1,600 yen.

A Dai-ichi Life spokesperson said the company had no comment. Pasona could not be immediately reached for comment.

The fight over Benefit One is the latest in a growing number of takeover deals in Japan, spurred in part by the Tokyo Stock Exchange pushing for improved corporate governance and better allocation of capital that has made large companies reassess the logic of having multiple listed affiliates and subsidiaries.

($1 = 148.7700 yen)

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Ritsuko Shimizu and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Jacqueline Wong)