Germany based insurer Allianz is likely to merge its two operations in Belgium (including Luxembourg) and Netherlands, in a bid to boost its footprint in the Benelux region.
The integrated entity will be named as Allianz Benelux and Robert Franssen, who is currently serving as CEO of Allianz Belgium, will serve as regional CEO.
Allianz SE board of management member, also in charge of the operations in both regions, Dieter Wemmer said Benelux is one of the core European markets for the firm and the integration is essential to tackle the challenges on a large scale.
"The integration of Allianz Belgium and Allianz Netherlands will allow us to jointly invest in state-of-the-art IT systems, modern processes and technical expertise," Wemmer added.
Franssen team, which includes Sjoerd Laarberg, Wilfried Neven, Eric Schneijdenberg and Jean-Pascal Vialaron, will oversee the whole integration process. The merger is still subject to necessary internal and regulatory approvals.
Laarberg will serve as general manager of Allianz Netherlands, Neven as general manager of Belgium, Schneijdenberg as COO and Vialaron as CFO. Ron van het Hof, currently CEO of Allianz Netherlands, will assume a new role.
Allianz Belgium serves more than 900.000 customers, has more than 1 000 staff and its gross premium income crossed €1.6bn in 2011. The Netherlands unit serves more than 1.3 million customers through brokers and Direct insurer Allsecur.