Athene and Institutional Investors commit €2.2 billion in support of business growth in European guaranteed life insurance market

  • €2.2 billion common equity investment to fund growth and sector consolidation

  • Largest ever dedicated equity capital commitment to European (excluding UK) run-off life insurance 

  • Focus on buying run-off liabilities and completing reinsurance transactions to support German and European life insurers with sophisticated capital solutions 

PEMBROKE, Bermuda – 18 April 2017 – Athora Holding Ltd. (“Athora” and formerly AGER Bermuda Holding Ltd, the holding company of Athene Holding Ltd.’s (“Athene”) German Group Companies), has received binding subscriptions for a capital raise that was conducted through a private placement of common equity securities. The offering received subscriptions representing €2.2 billion from Athene and a number of global institutional investors and is intended to support capital and reinsurance transactions in the German and European guaranteed life insurance market. The capital raised is permanent equity capital and does not include any financial leverage. 

Athene will be a large minority shareholder in Athora, having committed up to €375 million in the offering. In addition, Athene expects to be a long-term strategic partner for Athora and will support its business in a number of different ways. As part of the long term partnership, Athene will be a preferred reinsurer for Athora’s spread liabilities.

“We see an unprecedented need in the German and broader European market for equity capital and reinsurance solutions to support run-off portfolios and closed block reinsurance transactions, particularly those with high guarantees,” said Deepak Rajan, Executive Vice President at Athora. “The closing of this capital commitment will allow us to complete transactions of significant scale across various European jurisdictions. We are delighted by the high quality nature of our investor base and believe this represents an industry solution to the issue of high cost legacy liabilities across Europe. Given the support of Athene, we believe that we are a highly credible counterparty for European insurers and provide them with the execution certainty they need.” 

Athora’s strategy is to provide assistance to existing insurers by allowing them to free up capital, management capacities and operating resources through the sale or reinsurance of legacy portfolios or companies. Athora is a specialist in the run-off market and understands the unique needs of legacy companies and their policyholders. AGER is staffed to evaluate, structure, and complete large and complex transactions. 

Athora is based in Bermuda, the second largest reinsurance market in the world. Bermuda is one of the first countries – among Switzerland and Japan – that has been granted full Solvency II equivalency by the European Commission. Athora’s principal operating subsidiary is Athene Lebensversicherung AG (“Athene Leben”), based in Germany. Athene Leben had €5 billion in invested assets as of 31 December 2016. Athene Leben has been in run-off since 2010 and since that time has developed the experience and efficiencies critical to succeed as a run-off specialist.

Ina Kirchhof, CEO of Athene Leben, added: “We are well-positioned to seize appropriate opportunities in the German and European run-off market with our core operating principles of policyholder protection as well as high quality asset and risk management. Policyholder satisfaction remains a top priority for us as we develop our company over the long term.” 

The Athora offering is conditioned upon obtaining certain regulatory approvals, and other customary terms and conditions.