Yesterday, KBC Group ('KBC') and Talanx International AG ('Talanx') finalised the sale of Polish insurance company TUiR WARTA S.A. (Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen i Reasekuracji WARTA S.A.) to Talanx which was announced on 20 January 2012, after having received the necessary regulatory approvals.
· WARTA is one of the largest and most established insurance companies in Poland with a strong market position across business segments and a highly recognised brand. During the first quarter of 2012 WARTA Group collected almost PLN 1,25 billion in gross written premium: PLN 649 million in non-life (TUiR WARTA S.A) and PLN 599 million in life (TUnZ WARTA S.A.). Compared to the same period of the previous year this represents a 15% growth in both companies. The net profit in Q1-2012 amounted in total to PLN 125.3 million.
· To date, Talanx has been operating in Poland through two companies in motor, general liability, property and life insurance: HDI Asekuracja TU S.A. and HDI-Gerling Zycie TU S.A. Additionally, on 4 June 2012, Talanx and Meiji Yasuda announced the completion of the take-over of the majority of Europa Group, based in Wroclaw. With the closing of both of these transactions, Talanx becomes the second largest insurance group in Poland (according to a 2010 statistic published by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority).
- The existing bancassurance collaboration between WARTA and Kredyt Bank (KBC's banking subsidiary in Poland, which is also the subject of a separate divestment process) regarding the distribution of WARTA's Life and Non-life insurance products through the Kredyt Bank branch network, will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
Johan Thijs, KBC Group CEO, comments as follows: "With the divestment of WARTA, we have completed another major step in implementing our updated strategy. This transaction releases a significant amount of capital and has a positive impact on KBC's profit and loss and Tier 1 ratio. WARTA has now found a new stable shareholder and this will be to the benefit of all stakeholders of the company. I would like to thank WARTA's management and staff for their commitment throughout all these years. We wish them all the best."
Herbert K. Haas, CEO of Talanx Group comments: "With this successful acquisition in Poland, Talanx is continuing to deliver on its strategy of strengthening the international part of its portfolio. Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America are target markets for the Talanx Group. It aims, in the long run, to grow the foreign share of gross premiums from primary insurance in the divisions of Industrial Lines and Retail International to half of the total gross premiums from primary insurance."
JarosIaw Parkot, WARTA CEO, commented: "We are glad to announce that we now are part of the Talanx group. This transaction significantly strengthens WARTA's position on the Polish market. WARTA's results show that we are a dynamically developing company. Talanx is the ideal partner to support us to continue this trend."
