AXA to sell CEE subsidiaries to UNIQA Insurance for €1bn

French insurance giant AXA has signed a deal to divest its Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia businesses to UNIQA Insurance Group, an Austrian insurance company, as per the latest insurance acquisition news.

As per the deal terms, AXA will offload 100% of its life and savings, property and casualty and pension businesses in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for a total sum of €1.0 billion.

AXA Poland provides life and savings (L&S), property and casualty (P&C), pension, and asset management products and solutions to nearly 3.2 million customers.

The Polish insurance has 1,575 employees and distributes its products via a couple of customized multichannel networks, dedicated to P&C and L&S. AXA Poland, whose revenues in 2018 were €585 million, also has exclusive and multi-product bancassurance agreement in place with mBank.

On the other hand, AXA Czech Republic and Slovakia offers L&S, P&C, and pension solutions to nearly 1.6 million retail customers. The CEE insurance company employs 527 people.

AXA Czech Republic and Slovakia operates as a single integrated platform, under a single management team active in the two countries, via three Czech entities with branches in Slovakia.

According to AXA, the deal is expected to give a positive impact on its Solvency II ratio of about two points.

AXA to sell CEE subsidiaries to UNIQA Insurance for €1bn. Photo courtesy of Kokky92/Wikipedia.org.

Thomas Buberl – CEO of AXA said: “This transaction marks another step in the simplification of AXA’s footprint, we are convinced that AXA’s operations in Central and Eastern Europe will benefit from UNIQA’s strong presence and local expertise in the region to create new growth opportunities with a continued focus on delivering enhanced customer value propositions.

“I would like to thank the management teams and all the employees of our Polish, Czech and Slovakian operations, for their continuous engagement over the years and wish them all the success for the future.”

For UNIQA Insurance Group, the deal helps it expand in the CEE region giving it five million new customers and additional premiums of €800 million.

Andreas Brandstetter – UNIQA Insurance Group CEO said: “We have been aware of the AXA companies for a long time; they are an excellent fit with our long-term strategy. Their strong focus on profitable retail business and balanced product mix complement our existing business and make us the number five in the growing Central and Eastern Europe region.”

Closing of the deal, which is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is slated to be wrapped up by Q4 2020.