AXA and XL lay out further plans for combined P&C operation

AXA and XL’s joint large P&C commercial lines and specialty unit – comprising XL Group operations, AXA Corporate Solutions and AXA Art – will be called AXA XL.

The move follows AXA’s $15.3bn all-cash offer for XL, which has been approved by the Bermudian firm’s shareholders and is expected to complete in the second half of this year.

The new AXA XL division will operate under the master AXA brand following the acquisition and will have three main businesses.

XL Insurance will comprise XL Group’s insurance units and AXA Corporate Solutions. It will also include XL Art and Lifestyle, the combination of XL Group’s fine art and specie business, and AXA Art offerings.

Then there will be XL Reinsurance, which will incorporate XL Group’s reinsurance business. The third unit will be XL Risk Consulting, which will incorporate AXA Matrix and XL Group’s property risk engineering global asset protection services.

In addition, XL Group’s primary Lloyd’s syndicate will continue to be known as XL Catlin Syndicate 2003.

The current plan is for the new AXA XL business to be headed by CEO Greg Hendrick, who is currently president and chief operating officer of XL Group. Mr Hendrick is also set to join AXA Group’s management committee.

Once the acquisition is complete, XL Group’s chief executive officer, Mike McGavick, is expected to be named vice-chairman of AXA XL and special adviser to AXA CEO Thomas Buberl. Mr McGavick will advise on integration and other strategic matters.

Mr Buberl said this week: “I am excited to see the future creation of AXA XL, a division based on AXA’s and XL Group’s shared culture around people, operational excellence and innovation. The combination of these attributes will position us perfectly to establish an even stronger brand leadership and bring a unique value proposition to our customer.”

Mr Hendrick said AXA and XL’s commercial lines operations will be stronger together and ambitious. “We are going to continue to put our clients and brokers at the heart of what we do, while staying firmly focused on the future of risk and the solutions needed to advance,” he said.