Swiss insurer Helvetia Group has sold its stake in Spanish life insurer Sa Nostra Vida to Caixabank.
According to the firm, the sale price was €262m and will return a high double-digit million profit for Caser.
Sa Nostra Vida contributed ₣7.7m to the Group’s annual result in 2021 and generated gross premiums of ₣41.1m. The transaction improves the Group’s SST ratio in a low double-digit percentage point range.
The sale is part of the implementation of the firm’s strategy and reduces the exposure in life business of the Group. At the same time, with this transaction and the increase in the stake of Caser in the summer, Helvetia said it was further strengthening the non-life business.
The sale of the business had been announced in June this year. Helvetia previously held this stake through Caser. Now that all approvals have been obtained, the transaction has been closed.
It was while Helvetia announced its sale of Sa Nostra Vida to Caixabank in June that the firm said it had purchased 10% of Caser for an undisclosed price.
At the time, Caixabank said that the buyout would further bolster its insurance businesses after its takeover of smaller rival Bankia.
This is not the only shift going on with Helvetia at the moment. Last month, the firm announced that Philipp Gmür, group CEO of Helvetia Insurance, is set to step down from his role in the middle of next year. The firm, it is understood, is currently in the process of appointing a successor.
Gmür joined the firm in 1993, rising to his current role in 2016.
He said: “After 30 years at the Helvetia Group, of which I spent 13 years as CEO of the Swiss domestic market and seven years as Group CEO, the time has come to start a new chapter. It is a privilege and a joy to be able to shape the Helvetia Group’s development together with a strong team. However, I also look forward to passing on the baton and taking on new tasks outside the Helvetia Group.”
