Baloise Insurance completes purchase of Athora Belgium non-life insurance

Brussels, Belgium, 2 June 2020 - Baloise Insurance has completed the purchase of the Athora Belgium non-life insurance branch. The transaction was announced on 4 November 2019 by both insurers and approved by the National Bank of Belgium in May 2020. With more than 360,000 insurance policies and about 150 additional employees, Baloise Insurance strengthens its position on the Belgian market. Today it ranks among the top 4 non-life insurers in Belgium. Athora Belgium will now concentrate fully on life insurance, where it is a key player.

Baloise Group, which last year acquired Fidea, had earlier announced its desire for further growth on the Belgian market and to expand its distribution model of independent brokers. With the Athora Belgium portfolio, Baloise Insurance now becomes one of the Belgian top 4 in the non-life segment. This transaction also greatly strengthens its position in Brussels and Wallonia.

Staff and customers
Athora Belgium, which is seeking to grow in both branch 21 and branch 23 life insurance, has found in Baloise Insurance the ideal party to take over the 150 employees in the non-life department and a number of supporting services. From 2 June they will be starting work at the Phoenix office building in Brussels.

Except for the name, nothing will change for Athora Belgium non-life customers. Baloise Insurance will be taking over the 360,000 insurance policies with no change to the present terms.

Henk Janssen, CEO Baloise Insurance: "We are pleased to be able to welcome the 150 Athora employees to Baloise Insurance in June, bringing our employee total to 1,700. We will be making every effort to ensure they feel immediately at home. With the acquisition of the Athora non-life portfolio we are increasing our market share from 8.3% to 10.3% in this segment. Together with all our employees and brokers we will try to continue to make the difference for the customer."

Dorsan van Hecke, CEO Athora Belgium: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we take leave of our 160 colleagues. They helped make Athora great. So I want to thank them directly for all that they have meant to us in recent years. Athora will now focus exclusively on the development of our life insurance business, where we have always been very strong. We look forward to a long and focused future with our customers, brokers, and employees."