Following the closing of the acquisition, Athora has announced a capital injection of €400m in VIVAT
Headquarters of VIVAT in Amstelveen. (Credit: Chonig at Dutch Wikipedia)
Athora, a European insurance and reinsurance group, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Dutch insurance company VIVAT from China-based Anbang Group.
The Dutch insurance firm is now part of the European group of life insurance companies owned by Athora and will get a capital injection of €400m from its new owner.
VIVAT, which will continue to be a Dutch-regulated entity, will be rebranded to Athora Netherlands by the end of this year. Its insurance policies, which include Zwitserleven, Reaal, and ACTIAM, will continue to be served in the Netherlands.
VIVAT supervisory board chairman Maarten Dijkshoorn said: “With the additional financial resources committed to VIVAT and the combined capabilities of VIVAT and Athora, we will be best placed to fulfil our customers’ needs and to build further upon our already strong market positions. We believe that this transaction is highly beneficial to our valued customers.”
According to the group, the closing of the acquisition will result in stronger firms in the Dutch life and non-life markets and improved customer offerings. Furthermore, the group said that the acquisition confirms its position as a top insurance consolidator in Europe with nearly three million customers, and about €70bn in assets.
The group has operations across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Ireland.
At the time of signing the deal, Athora said that the Dutch market is attractive to it and that the acquired company will give it a solid base for future growth. Athora attributed this to VIVAT’s scale in the Dutch market, strong brands, deep distribution and underwriting capabilities in life and pensions apart from its modernised and scalable IT platform.
The insurance and reinsurance group said that it plans to leverage VIVAT’s strong capabilities, strong operations, and well-invested infrastructure across the group.
Athora Group CEO Michele Bareggi said: “We are delighted to welcome VIVAT to the Athora family. We have a long-term vision and strategic commitment in the Dutch insurance market and VIVAT is the perfect local business for achieving our goals. Under the leadership of VIVAT’s CEO Tom Kliphuis, I am confident that VIVAT is set up to be the leading player in Dutch life & pension markets.”
Athora closes sale of VIVAT Schade to NN Group
Apart from the acquisition, Athora has wrapped up the follow-on sale of VIVAT Schadeverzekeringen (VIVAT Schade), the non-life business of the Dutch insurer, to NN Group, for €416m. As per the terms of the deals announced in June 2019, Athora has retained ownership of the life and asset management businesses of the Dutch insurance firm.