Generali sells Dutch business for €143m

Italian insurance group Generali has agreed to sell its Dutch business to Netherlands-based insurer ASR Nederland.

The company has announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement to dispose its entire shareholding (98.56 percent) in Generali Nederland for €143 million.

According to the statement, the transaction is a part of its strategy to optimize its geographical presence, increase operational efficiency and improve capital allocation.

Frédéric de Courtois, Group CEO global business lines and international, commented: "With this transaction we reaffirm our commitment to the rebalancing of Generali Group’s geographical presence across the world.

"After the closing in Guatemala and the recent agreement to dispose our operations in Colombia and Panama, this transaction represents a significant step to pursue the strategy announced during our last Investor Day. We are well on track in executing our strategy and we are confident to generate at least € 1 billion of cash."

As part of the transaction, the Generali Group will cease to provide any reinsurance support to Generali Nederland’s insurance subsidiaries resulting in the withdrawal by the Dutch life insurance company of the reinsured portfolio with Assicurazioni Generali.

Generali stated that the contribution of the Dutch business to Group’s operating result was limited and equal to approximately €9 million in 2016.

The company believes that the transaction will lead to a positive impact to the group’s Solvency position by adding approximately 1.6 percentage points to the group’s regulatory Solvency II ratio and it is expected to generate a one-off net loss of approximately €270 million.

The transaction is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2018.

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