Bar chart showing the premium income of the Polish life insurance industry, 2002-2010Further strengthening its position in Poland – Central and
Eastern Europe’s largest insurance market – Talanx is to acquire
Belgian bank KBC’s Polish insurance subsidiary WARTA. Participating
with the German insurer in the €700m ($890m) cash deal is its
Japanese alliance partner Meiji Yasuda Life, which will acquire a
30% stake in WARTA from Talanx, subsequent to the deal’s
closing.

WARTA will bring with it life
insurer TUnZWARTA and general insurer TUiR WARTA. According to
Talanx, the life insurance unit recorded premium income of PLN1.9bn
($570m) in the first nine months of 2011, giving it a market share
of 7.5% and ranking it third in the sector.

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During the same period, the general
insurance unit recorded premium income of PLN1.7bn, giving it a
market share of 8.9% and ranking it third. WARTA achieved a net
profit of PLN164m in the first nine months of 2011.

KBC entered Poland in 2000, when it
acquired a 40% stake in WARTA, which traces its history back to the
founding of WARTA Reinsurance in 1920. KBC acquired the remaining
60% of WARTA in 2006.

The acquisition marks the second
major acquisitive move by Talanx and Meiji Yasuda Life in Poland in
as many months.

In December last year, the alliance
partners announced joint acquisition of control of Polish insurance
holding company Europa Group under an agreement with Polish
financial services company Getin Holding Group, which has a 66.5%
stake in Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed Europa Group.

According to the Warsaw Business
Journal, Getin will sell a 50.1% stake in Europa Group to Talanx
and Meiji Yasuda Life for PLN912m and retain its remaining stake.
Talanx and Meiji Yasuda Life intend to make an offer to all other
Europa Group minority shareholders.

Europa Group comprises two units:
bancassurance-focused life insurer Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen na
Zycie, which reported premium income of €988m in 2010; and general
insurer Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen Europa, which reported premium
income of €126m.

Talanx’s existing operations in
Poland are HDI-Gerling Zycie and general insurer HDI Asekuracja.
With acquisitions of WARTA and Europa Group, Talanx will become the
second-largest insurer in Poland behind state controlled PZU
Group.

Talanx is wholly-owned by German
mutual insurer Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie
Versicherung auf Gegenseitigkeit and ranks as Germany’s
third-largest
insurer.

In 2010, Talanx reported an attributable profit of €220m and
premium income of €22.87bn. Of the premium income, 21% was derived
from life and health reinsurance and 25% from non-life reinsurance
generated by its 50.2%-owned subsidiary Hannover Re.