National Australia Bank Ltd on Wednesday said it had agreed to sell its New Zealand life insurance business to Partners Life for NZ$290 million ($206.10 million), as part of its strategy to focus on core banking operations.

The sale of the unit, BNZ Life, would result in an increase in NAB Group's Common Equity Tier 1 ratio by 6 basis points, based on its risk weighted assets as at Sept. 30, the lender said in a statement.