The French online insurer Luko, specializing in home insurance and in receivership since November, will be taken over by Allianz which is committed to keeping all employees, the Bobigny commercial court announced on Wednesday.
Allianz Direct must take over for 4.3 million euros the assets of Luko and its parent company Demain ES, as well as its client portfolio, on which the German group wants to rely to launch its own online insurance activities in France.
Luko, which presents itself as the number one no-insurance company in France with 230,000 home contracts, obtained the opening of an accelerated safeguard procedure in June 2023, then was placed in receivership in November.
Heavily in debt after the successive acquisition in 2022 of the German insurer Coya and the French specialist in unpaid rent insurance Unkle, the start-up founded in 2018 did not succeed in refinancing – a victim of the increase in interest rates and greater investor reluctance – while his business was not yet profitable.
A first buyer, the British insurance group Admiral, positioned itself in June before withdrawing its offer of 14 million euros at the last moment, in October.
Allianz then positioned itself to take over the young company, but its takeover plan was not accepted by the Bobigny commercial court. The young company, in cessation of payments, then went into receivership.
Allianz Direct, which boasts 3 million customers in Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, established itself in France last July.
The online subsidiary of the Munich group – which markets automobile, home, liability and travel insurance directly, and not via general agents – aims to become the first digital insurance company in Europe, indicated AFP its general director for France Fanny Limare-Wolf.
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The takeover of the French home insurance portfolio must still be approved by the German federal financial supervisory authority – BaFin – and should be completed in the spring.
Luko’s 230,000 contracts – a figure not confirmed by Allianz – will make it possible to reach a critical size in France, the manager estimated.
Allianz Direct intends to keep the Luko brand, which has managed to find a place for itself, and is committed to taking over the 112 employees of the start-up, talents who have succeeded in building something interesting on the market, according to Ms. Limare -Wolf.