OREANDA-NEWS. Helvetia Group has acquired the remaining 47% of the shares in Italian-based Chiara Assicurazioni S.p.A. Helvetia now holds 100% of the company. With the transaction, the existing distribution agreement between Helvetia Italy and five partner banks via Chiara Assicurazioni has been extended until 2026, safeguarding access to attractive non-life business for the long term.

Since 2014, Helvetia Group has held a 53% stake in the Italian non-life insurer Chiara Assicurazioni S.p.A. The Swiss insurance group has now acquired the remaining 47% of the shares from Banco Desio and other partner banks. Chiara Assicurazioni reached a premium volume of EUR 32.9 million in 2015, with significant volumes, in particular, in the areas of private liability, accident, fire, property and financial loss insurance. Helvetia has paid EUR 20.0 million for the remaining shares. The transaction has already been closed, as it is not subject to regulatory approvals.

As part of the transaction, Helvetia Italy's distribution agreement with Banco Desio and other partner banks via Chiara Assicurazioni has been extended for an additional term of ten years. Helvetia Italy will thus be able to further benefit from the large sales network of these banks, safeguarding important access to customers in the non-life business for the long term. Thanks to the distribution agreements in place, Chiara Assicurazioni can rely on 1,614 bank branches. These are primarily located in northern and central Italy and provide Helvetia with a strong market presence in attractive regions.

"The non-life cooperation with Banco Desio and our other partner banks has proven to be very profitable over the past years", declares Francesco La Gioia, CEO of Helvetia Italy. "And we are convinced that our partner banks will continue to be an important distribution channel in the future", he continues. Philipp Gmür, CEO of Helvetia Group, adds: "Holding 100% of the shares in Chiara Assicurazioni will not only promote our business in Italy, but also enable us to accelerate the streamlining of our Italian operations as intended by the helvetia 20.20 strategy."

About the Helvetia Group

In over 150 years, the Helvetia Group has grown from a number of Swiss and foreign insurance companies into a successful international insurance group. Today, Helvetia has subsidiaries in its home market Switzerland as well as in the countries that make up the Europe market area: Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain. With its Specialty Markets market area, Helvetia is also present in France and in selected regions worldwide. Some of its investment and financing activities are managed through subsidiaries and fund companies in Luxembourg and Jersey. The Group is headquartered in St.Gallen, Switzerland.

Helvetia is active in the life and non-life business, and also offers customised specialty lines and reinsurance cover. Its business activities focus on retail customers as well as small and medium-sized companies and larger corporates. With some 6,700 employees, the company provides services to more than 4.7 million customers. With a business volume of CHF 8.24 billion, Helvetia generated underlying earnings of CHF 439 million in the 2015 financial year. The registered shares of Helvetia Holding are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol HELN.

Cautionary note

This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.