Amlin seeks ‘powerful’ role in France with merger of operations

Amlin Chief Executive Officer Charles Phillips said that Amlin France already has premium income of about €60m and plans to play a ‘powerful’ role in what is the world’s fifth biggest insurance market. The London-based group made its first serious foray into mainland Europe when it acquired Paris-based Anglo French Underwriters (AFU) in November 2008. AFU was set up in 1938 and is the largest Lloyd's approved coverholder in France. It focuses on SME specialty business provided by over 1,300 independent retail brokers and operates through Amlin’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 2001.hideLast summer Amlin took its next big step across the English Channel when its €350mn acquisition of recently nationalised Fortis Corporate Insurance (FCI), a leading provider of corporate property and casualty insurance in the Netherlands and Belgium, from the State of the Netherlands was approved. Risk and insurance managers in the Benelux said at the time that they were delighted that the uncertainty over the future of one of the region’s leading corporate insurance providers following the credit crisis-related problems of the Fortis financial services group had been settled. The acquired group, that was renamed Amlin Corporate Insurance (ACI), wrote some €763m in premiums in 2008 of which 63% was derived from the Netherlands, 36% from Belgium and only 1% from France. In a recent presentation Patrick Coene, Chief Executive of ACI, explained that his operation had only started writing French fire and liability business in January 2008 targeted at small and medium-sized French businesses with international operations and turnover of between €50m and €500m. He conceded that the business was in an ‘embryonic’ position in France but said that its focus on loss prevention had been very well received by the French brokers. Last week Amlin announced that it had decided to combine ACI’s French operation and AFU into the new entity Amlin France that will operate as a separate division alongside ACI and under the leadership of François Martinache, the current President of AFU. The group said that the combination of resources and expertise will help further develop existing classes of business and help extend growth into new areas as well as deliver improved efficiency in claims handling. “Having product lines which are extremely complementary and a unique geographical presence with more than 1,300 producing brokers, Amlin France’s ambition is to become a leading risk carrier in the French market, in both international programmes and domestic classes and for specialist and commercial business lines,” stated the group. “Amlin France will be able to quote business for major companies working internationally, as well as with medium and small-sized companies in France. With a premium income of more than €60m, Amlin France intends to play a powerful role in the market,” it continued. Mr. Martinache said, “We are very enthusiastic about working with the Amlin Corporate Insurance France teams to secure opportunities for significant growth that this alliance will create in the near future.”

Amlin seeks ‘powerful’ role in France with merger of operations

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