Insurers Tryg and Intact Financial on Friday said they had entered a deal to sell their stakes in the Danish unit of insurance company Codan to Alm. Brand in a deal valued at 12.6 billion Danish crowns ($2.06 billion).
In one of Europe’s biggest financial takeovers last year, Canada’s Intact Financial and Denmark’s Tryg took control of Codan, when they bought British insurance group RSA in a $9.6 billion deal in November.
Alm. Brand said the addition of the Codan unit would make it the second-largest non-life insurance company in Denmark after Tryg with a market share of around 18%.
“We will double our business volume and become one of the largest players in the attractive Danish non-life insurance market,” Alm. Brand chairman Jorgen Hesselbjerg Mikkelsen said in a statement.
Codan is headquartered in Copenhagen and has approximately 1,000 employees.
Under the deal, which covers 100% of shares in Codan Denmark, Tryg will receive half of the sale proceeds, which it said would not impact the firm’s financial guidance for 2021.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022, contingent on regulatory approvals, Tryg said.
“There has been great demand for Codan Denmark, and the process has therefore been fairly quick,” Tryg’s Chief Executive Morten Hubbe said in a statement.
“A prompt sale of Codan is positive for all parties – not the least for Tryg and our shareholders,” Hubbe added.
Tryg will continue to own Codan’s Norwegian business activities, it said.
Deloitte Corporate Finance is acting as financial advisor and Accura Advokatpartnerselskab is acting as legal advisor to Alm. Brand in connection with the acquisition.
Source: Reuters.com