Cinven acquires Ergo Italia

The GP plans to grow Ergo Italia through acquisitions in the Italian insurance market and by broadening the product portfolio.

Cinven stated it was attracted to Ergo Italia due to the fast growth of the Italian life insurance market and its consolidation opportunities.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and was made from Cinven's fifth fund, which closed in 2013 with €5.3bn of commitments after 21 months of fundraising.

Ergo is not Cinven's first venture into the insurance industry. In March 2014, together with German re-insurer Hannover Re, it acquired the life insurance companies Skandia Germany and Skandia Austria from Old Mutual Wealth for €220m. In August 2013, the two also combined to acquire life insurance provider Heidelberger Leben.

Company
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Milan, Ergo Italia operates in the life and non-life insurance market.

It is composed of the companies Ergo Previdenza, which has €5.1bn of gross reserves and a net income of €38m, and Ergo Assicurazioni, with €195m gross reserves.

Ergo Italia distributes its products through a network of 160 agencies and 2,000 distributors in Italy, employing 280 people.

People
Caspar Berendsen is partner and Eugenio Preve is principal at Cinven. 

Advisors
Equity – Rothschild (Corporate finance); Freshfields (Legal); PwC (Financial due diligence); Bain (Commercial due diligence); KPMG (Tax); Deloitte (Tax).

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• Southern Europe
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