* Seeking acquisitions in U.S., Europe as part of expansion
* Says no limit set on acquisition spending
(Recasts, adds detail, background)
By Taiga Uranaka and Noriyuki Hirata
TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Tokio Marine Holdings is seeking acquisition opportunities in the United States and Europe as it steps up its efforts to tap growth outside Japan and diversify its risk assets, a company executive said.
"The proportion of our Japanese business is still large. I don't think we have expanded enough overseas yet," Senior Managing Director Shinichiro Okada told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
He said any acquisitions in developed markets such as the United States and Europe would need to contribute to the company's earnings in a short period of time, while investment in Asia and other developing areas could be slower in making substantial returns.
Acquisitions in the United States and Europe could be expensive as Okada said the company is going after "those (firms that are) respected in the region with high profitability and growth potential."
Tokio Marine had not set any limits on acquisition spending, he added.
"If a target company fits our criteria, money does not matter much," he said.
"For Philadelphia Consolidated, we spent about nearly 500 billion yen. If we find a good company, we are ready to spend a relatively large amount of money," Okada continued without elaborating.
Tokio Marine is Japan's second-largest property-casualty insurance firm after MS&AD Insurance in terms of net premiums written.
The two and their smaller rival NKSJ Holdings are accelerating their overseas expansion as Japan's 8 trillion yen ($95.5 billion) property-casualty insurance market faces weak growth prospects.
Tokio Marine has been the most aggressive in the industry in overseas acquisitions, spending $4.7 billion to acquire U.S. insurer Philadelphia Consolidated and 442 million pounds ($680 million) to buy Lloyd's of London insurer Kiln in 2008. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Noriyuki Hirata; Editing by Joseph Radford)