DARAG, a European run-off insurer, has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire all shares of Ikano Försäkring, the Stockholm-based Swedish captive owned by Ikano Group.
Ikano Group, which was originally a part of IKEA, became an independent group of companies in 1988 and now focuses on areas such as finance, insurance, real estate and retail in Asia, with a head office in Luxembourg.
DARAG will now file an application with Finansinspektionen, Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority, which has up to 60 working days to process the ownership and management approval filing.
Ikano expects the transaction with DARAG to close during Q3 this year.
Zsolt Szalkai, group chief liability officer at DARAG, commented: “We firmly believe that the legacy market in Europe will reach new heights in 2017, as the reinsurance and insurance industry continues to acknowledge run-off solutions as a natural element of the insurance lifecycle, one that helps them reduce costs, manage volatility and achieve capital efficiencies.”
In addition, Euro Accident, a Swedish health insurance company, is set to acquire Ikano Livförsäkring, Ikano Group’s second insurance company.
Following the transactions, AXA will serve as Ikano Bank’s new provider of payment protection insurance solutions.
