Crédit Agricole has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Italian banking group Banco BPM “for a long-term partnership” in insurance, according to a press release published Friday by the French bank.
This announcement follows the entry into exclusive negotiations between the two players at the end of November.
With this partnership, Crdit Agricole is strengthening its position in Italy, the group’s second domestic market.
According to the memorandum of understanding, Crdit Agricole Assurance will provide non-life insurance products, particularly in damage and health, and creditor insurance to customers of Banco BPM, the third Italian banking group in terms of assets.
This partnership will be a major new step in our international expansion strategy, explained Philippe Dumont, CEO of Crdit Agricole Assurance, quoted in the press release.
The term of this distribution agreement has been set at 20 years.
In addition, Crdit Agricole Assurance will buy Banco BPM 65% of the capital of Vera Assicurazioni and Banco BPM Assicurazioni, for a total of approximately 260 million euros according to the current valuation, specifies the Italian bank.
For Vera Assicurazioni, however, the transaction will have to wait for Banco BPM to finish acquiring all the shares from the Italian insurer Cattolica.
At the beginning of April, Crdit Agricole had acquired nearly 10% of Banco BPM, becoming its largest shareholder.
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A year earlier, the French group had acquired Creval for 785 million euros, three years after a stake of the same order as that in Banco BPM.
According to some analysts, reproducing the same operation with Banco BPM today could however be a little more complicated due to the political context and the arrival of post-fascists in power.
A close friend of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni had thus displayed his exasperation with Credit Agricole in a tweet last August.