Ageas to Sell Off Turkish Life and Pension Operations

Ageas said it will sell its pension and life insurance operations in Turkey to BNP Paribas Assurance in a deal that Ageas said will likely give it "a limited capital gain."

The Turkish operations, Fortis Emeklilik ve Hayat, had gross written premiums of 62 million euros in 2009, said Ageas.

Ageas acquired the insurance activities in Turkey in 2005 as part of the acquisition of Disbank by Fortis Bank. Since then, insurance inflows more than doubled from 29 million euros in 2005 to 62 million euros in 2009, and distribution channels have also been expanded, according to Ageas.

"This divestment is in line with the company's intention, announced in September 2009, to streamline its current portfolio against certain criteria," the insurer said. "Specifically, businesses are expected to reach a critical size, make a meaningful contribution to the net result and have the capacity to generate returns that exceed the cost of equity."

Ageas said it considers the new owner "to be ideally placed to develop the franchise in the future with the support of the employees."

The transaction, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the last quarter of 2010.

Ageas is the rebranded insurance business of Dutch-Belgian financial group Fortis, which announced the new brand in March (BestWire, March 10, 2010) after deciding it would unload its banking operations and focus on insurance.

Last September, Fortis said after completing a strategic review it would concentrate on core markets in Asia and Europe (BestWire, Sept. 30, 2009).

(By David Pilla, international editor, BestWeek: [email protected])