French insurance giant AXA Group announced it has relinquished its Gulf region operations to GIC Gulf Insurance for $290 million as it moves to slim its activities.
The transaction will enable GIC Gulf Insurance to take control of Axa Gulf and Axa Cooperative Insurance Company which focus largely on health and property insurance.
Both of Axa’s Gulf operations are run by 1,000 employees with 1 million customers through more than 30 branches and a sales footprint in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, Bloomberg reports.
The new acquisitions will bolster GIC Gulf Insurance’s regional presence. The Kuwait-based insurer is present across the Middle East region; in Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.
With Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, as a major shareholder, the Kuwait firm’s consolidated assets stood at $2.8 billion as of Sept. 30.
Axa Group has wanted to cut down on its operation overseas under new Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl who reportedly has set priority on property and casualty insurance following a $15.3 billion purchase of XL Group Ltd. in 2018.
The French, Bloomberg notes, is looking to shore up its capital buffers as the global pandemic weighs on its profits.
Kuwait’s GIC Gulf Insurance acquires French insurer AXA Gulf
