French insurance giant AXA has called off the deal to sell its AXA Life Europe (ALE) business to private equity firm Cinven.
The deal, which is believed to have collapsed due to the economic crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic, was valued at approximately €1.2bn ($1.4bn).
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AXA, which confirmed the development alongside the release of its Q2 results, said that certain closing conditions for the deal had not been met by the agreed long stop date.
The French insurer noted that it will now reassess its strategic options in order maximise the value and efficiency of ALE, which has been closed to new business since 2017.
ALE, which is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a variable annuity products platform.
Through over 60 staff, the platform is said to manage a portfolio of 248,000 insurance contracts with €5bn reserves.
The platform’s products are distributed across Europe through AXA’s network of entities in Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
Its products are distributed through third-party channels and via a reinsurance arrangement with AXA Japan.
Civen first made the offer to acquire the unit in August 2018. Initially, the private equity firm made an offer of €925m for shares in AXA Life Europe.
