French insurance giant AXA has signed a €620 million deal to sell AXA Bank Belgium, its Belgian banking operations, to Crelan Bank, a Belgium-based cooperative bank.

The sale of AXA Bank Belgium is another major step taken by AXA in the execution of its Ambition 2020 strategy. The French insurer is looking to focus on its core businesses while continuing to simplify its business profile.

AXA Bank Belgium ranks as the sixth-largest retail bank in Belgium on the basis of its total assets of €27 billion, of which €20 billion is of customer loans.

The Belgian bank offers a variety of retail banking products and investment solutions to nearly 860,000 customers. AXA Bank Belgium is focused mainly on credit, investment, and daily banking services and deposits.

At the end of 2018, the Belgian banking company had 790 employees and distributed its products via a network of around 550 bank agencies in Belgium.

As per the terms of Crelan acquisition of AXA Bank Belgium, the total consideration for the deal is made up of a total cash consideration of €540 million and the 100% transfer of Crelan Insurance to AXA Belgium.

Crelan Insurance, which is valued at €80 million, is the insurance business of Crelan Bank. The Belgian insurance company offers protection insurance linked to loans originated by Crelan.

Additionally, AXA and Crelan Bank have signed a long-term P&C and Protection insurance distribution partnership. The agreement in this connection extends the existing partnership between AXA Bank Belgium and AXA Belgium to the entire Crelan Bank network.

As per the terms of the deal, AXA will also take a minority equity stake of 9.9% in Crelan NV and AXA Bank Belgium through an investment of €90 million.

Thomas Buberl – AXA CEO said: “We are extremely pleased to maintain our strong historical links through a continued partnership with AXA Bank Belgium, a key factor in this transaction, and to extend this partnership to Crelan’s network. Combining this with the transfer of Crelan’s insurance business to AXA, our leadership position in our preferred segments in Belgium will be further reinforced.

“We are convinced that AXA Bank Belgium will strongly benefit from the consolidation with Crelan, leveraging on their respective scales and product offerings.”

Crelan acquisition of AXA Bank Belgium, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, is likely to be wrapped up in Q2 2020.

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