AXA announced today that AXA Germany has entered into an agreement with Athora Deutschland GmbH (“Athora Germany”), a licensed insurer in Germany, to sell a portfolio of Euro 16 billion of life and pensions insurance reserves in Germany. The portfolio has been closed to new business since 2013 and is mainly composed of traditional Savings policies, with an average guaranteed rate2 of 3.2%. The reduction of guarantees on AXA’s balance sheet resulting from the sale will further diminish the Group’s exposure to financial market risk.
Under the terms of the agreement, AXA Germany will sell the portfolio to Athora Germany for a consideration of Euro 660 million3, representing an implied multiple of 18x 2022E earnings4. The sale is expected to result in estimated net cash proceeds of Euro 0.4 billion to AXA S.A. AXA intends to offset the earnings dilution from the disposal with a share buyback to be launched following the closing of the transaction. As part of the transaction, AXA IM will enter into an agreement to provide asset management services to Athora until 2028.
- Significant milestone foreign-force reduction objective with the disposal of Euro 16 billion of G/A* reserves.
- Further reduction of the Group’s exposure to financial markets.
- Offset of Underlying Earnings dilution by way of share buy-back expected following closing.
- AXA and Athora are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and to maintaining a high standard of service towards policyholders.
