Bermuda-based insurance company Athora has agreed to acquire the Belgium-based subsidiary of Assicurazioni Generali (Generali Group) for €540m.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to be closed in the second half of this year.
Generali Belgium has about 420,000 customers who are served by 430 team members.
It has total gross written premiums of more than €640m last year. Its total assets are worth about €5.3bn.
Considered to be the 11th largest insurer in Belgium, Generali Belgium offers a range of insurance solutions to retail and corporate clients through a network of over 1,000 independent brokers.
The company offers the Belgian market with a set of products that include single and recurring premium savings, pension and unit-linked life products, motor, homeowners and renters non-life coverage.
Athora group managing partner Michele Bareggi said: “Since our successful capital raise in April 2017, we have been rapidly expanding our presence in Europe.
"In addition to launching our business with the acquisitions of Delta Lloyd Lebensversicherung in 2015 and Aegon Ireland earlier this month, this transaction is another major step toward our goal of becoming the premier European insurance consolidator and life reinsurance partner.
“Belgium is a target market for Athora, where we plan to deploy substantial capital over the next few years, and Generali Belgium is a perfect fit for our strategy and growth plans in the country.”
With the acquisition, Athora expects to get a hold of a platform for consolidation in Belgium while focusing on the development of its retail life and non-life business lines, and the aggregation of traditional life books.
It is the first non-life acquisition for Athora, but it expects to build on the non-life track record of its strategic partner and investor, Apollo Global Management.
Apollo’s current non-life investments include Tranquilidade (Portugal), Amissima (Italy), and Catalina (Americas and Europe).
For Generali, the transaction is part of its overall strategy to optimize its geographical footprint and to improve its operational efficiency and capital allocation.
Generali global business lines & international Group CEO Frédéric de Courtois said: “This deal underlines our continuing efforts to optimize the Group’s international reach across the world. After having announced the sale of our operations in Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, the Netherlands and Ireland, this transaction represents yet another important step ahead in our strategy.
“The total value of the deals concluded and those already announced, still subject to regulatory approvals, is over €1.1 billion exceeding our initial target of €1 billion. We will continue to implement this on-going initiative with discipline over the coming months.”
Image: Generali Belgium is Athora’s first non-life acquisition. Photo: Courtesy of Chaiwat/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.