Generali sells non-life business in Ireland to Zurich

Generali sells its non-life business in Ireland to Zurich. The insurance group announced that it has reached an agreement with the Swiss giant to sell its non-life business in Ireland and Northern Ireland, managed through the Irish and UK (Northern Ireland) branches of Generali Spain under the RedClick brand.

The value of the transaction is EUR 337 million in cash and is subject to certain adjustments as the deal is finalised, as is usual for this type of transaction. Generali Spain will also retain €51m of excess capital currently allocated to its Irish non-life business.

The transaction, the company explained in a note, "is consistent with Generali's commitment to focus on core insurance markets, where the company already has significant scale and a leading presence, and is also fully aligned with the 'Lifetime Partner 27: Driving Excellence' strategic plan".

The sale will generate a capital gain, which will only be disclosed at closing, but in the meantime it should be noted that 'it will have a negligible impact on normalised eps and an estimated impact of about +1 percentage point on the Solvency II Ratio'.

As for Zurich, the Swiss group, already grappling with its almost $11 billion bid for the UK's Beazley, scores another coup in the region, albeit in a more traditional segment than speciality lines in the UK.