Zurich boosts its reach in the Middle East

Swiss insurer Zurich
Financial Services (ZFS) has expanded its reach in the Middle East,
with the acquisition of a 99.8% stake in a privately owned Lebanese
composite insurer Compagnie Libanaise D’Assurances (CLD) for an
undisclosed sum.

CLD operates branch offices
in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Oman.

“The acquisition of Compagnie
Libanaise D’Assurances marks a key milestone for us as we
accelerate the expansion of our operations in the Middle East,”
said ZFS Middle East CEO Saad Mered.

“It will give us access to
personal and commercial customer segments in four important [new] markets, and complements our existing general insurance presence in
Bahrain and the Dubai International Financial Centre.”

Established in 1951 and
headquartered in Beirut, CLD offers general insurance solutions to
retail and commercial customers in the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and
Lebanon; and offers individual and group life insurance products in
Lebanon.

At the end of 2009, CLD
reported gross written premiums of $49.1m and a net income of
$5.1m.

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