Strategic course set
Swiss Life wants to continue along its chosen path and to carve out an even stronger position as the leading provider of life insurance and pension solutions. The company plans to continue to accelerate growth and to boost its profitability. Therefore, following a comprehensive analysis and review of the various options open to it, Swiss Life made some landmark decisions in the 2007 financial year.
In December 2006 Swiss Life announced the takeover of CapitalLeben, a Liechtenstein-based company specialising in structured life insurance solutions, and finalised this transaction in March 2007. As planned, the company was merged with Swiss Life (Liechtenstein) AG on 1 October 2007.
In March 2007 Swiss Life communicated that it was selling its majority stakes in the French companies ERISA and ERISA IARD to HSBC France. The sale, which was concluded on market terms, enhances Swiss Life’s strategic and financial flexibility in the French market with respect to the focus on profitable growth and high net worth individuals. Swiss Life exercised this flexibility early on by acquiring the banking and asset management business of Banque Privée Fideuram Wargny from VIEL & Cie. and taking over Meeschaert Assurances, a subsidiary of the French Meeschaert Group.
In November 2007 Swiss Life announced the sale of Banca del Gottardo and its Dutch and Belgian insurance business. Given the company’s clear focus on pensions and long-term savings, management at Swiss Life and Banca del Gottardo decided that Swiss Life was no longer the ideal owner of the bank in its next stage of development. At the same time, market conditions meant that the bank could be sold at an attractive price. The sale of the bank to the Ticino-based company BSI was completed in March 2008.
The reason for the sale of the Dutch and Belgian business was that Swiss Life believed it would not have been possible to independently attain a sustainably profitable market position without significant investment and within a reasonable period of time. The decision to sell while market conditions were favourable optimised the value of this transaction for shareholders. The sale will be closed in the second quarter of 2008.
However, what stands out most in terms of acquisitions in the year under review is the transaction announced in December 2007, namely, the public tender offer for shares in the German firm AWD Holding AG. With AWD, the biggest independent financial services provider in Europe, Swiss Life can consolidate its distribution network and extends its options with respect to customer proximity. In addition, it provides access to growth markets in Central and Eastern Europe, and Austria. Moreover, the partnership enables Swiss Life to accelerate its growth in Germany and to strengthen its leading market position in Switzerland.
