BNP Paribas Cardif and Ageas have reached an agreement on the acquisition of the remaining 50% of UBI Banca minus one share of UBI Assicurazioni’s share capital for €75m after buying in 2009, the majority stake in the Italian leading non-life bancassurance company.
After this transaction, Cardif and Ageas will jointly and fully own UBI Assicurazioni (UBIA), with the BNP insurance company holding 50% minus one share and the Belgian insurance company 50% plus one share.
The new company will expand its activities in its core market: the Italian non-life insurance business while UBI Banca will continue distributing UBI Assicurazioni structured products. UBIA has currently an outstanding volume of €110m of products according to SRP data, of which 72.7% are open-ended/continuous products. Under the new agreement, the six continuous products will be offered via UBI Banca.
“This development enables us to expand our bancassurance network, as already planned in the 2009 transaction, and to accelerate the growth of our non-life insurance business in Italy”, said Pierre Villeneuve, chief executive officer at BNP Paribas Cardif.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be settled in 2014.
BNP’s insurance company Cardif has currently an outstanding volume of €395.1m across 12 products in France and €228.03m in Italy, according to SRP data.
Ageas has currently 17 live products in Belgium according to SRP database.
Ageas and BNP Paribas Cardif entered the Italian Non-Life market in 2009, acquiring 50% plus one of UBI Assicurazioni from UBI Banca, while establishing a long term distribution agreement with UBI Banca.
UBI Assicurazioni has seen its net income growing since the start of the joint venture to reach €15m in 2013.
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