Dutch insurance company Achmea is in preliminary talks with NN Group and Athora, backed by Apollo Global Management, regarding the divestiture of its life insurance division, reported Reuters, citing sources.
Earlier this week, Rabobank-backed Achmea said it is “exploring various internal and external options” for its pension and life insurance division.
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The business could potentially be valued at more than €2bn, a source told the news agency.
The life insurance arm manages assets worth more than €40bn, primarily from legacy policies no longer available to new clients.
Achmea has engaged JPMorgan to assist in assessing market interest in the business.
However, the discussions with potential buyers are still in their infancy, and there is no guarantee that a sale will occur.
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By GlobalDataAll parties involved, including Achmea, Athora, JPMorgan, and NN Group, have refrained from commenting on the matter.
The move by Achmea is part of a broader trend among European insurers to divest non-core and legacy insurance portfolios.
This strategy aims to release capital that is currently tied up in supporting these policies, allowing for reinvestment in other areas.
Earlier this month, Swiss insurer Baloise entered a reinsurance transaction with RGA International, a subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America, to manage a portion of its life insurance business in Belgium, which includes around 57,000 policies and reserves of approximately €900m.
In addition to NN Group and Athora, Achmea is also in talks with alternative asset managers that have existing insurance platforms, such as Canada’s Brookfield, which has declined to comment.
NN Group and Athora may have a competitive edge in the bidding process, given their existing operations in the Netherlands, the report said.
Achmea is open to various deal structures including an outright sale or forming a joint venture with a partner.
For NN Group, which has a history spanning nearly two centuries, acquiring Achmea’s life insurance division could represent one of its most significant recent transactions.
NN Group’s recent acquisitions include the life insurance unit of ABN AMRO Verzekeringen in 2022.
It teamed up with Athora for the purchase of Dutch insurer VIVAT in 2020, where NN Group absorbed the non-life operations and Athora took over the life insurance business.
