International private equity firm, Cinven, today announces it has agreed to sell Viridium Group (‘Viridium’ or ‘the Company’) to a consortium comprising Allianz, BlackRock, T&D Holdings, Hannover Re and Generali Financial Holdings.1

With €67bn of assets under management, 3.4m policies and about 900 highly specialised employees, Viridium is a leading life insurance consolidator, making existing life policies more attractive and creating tangible value for its customers and shareholders.

In 2014, the Cinven Funds invested in Heidelberger Leben, a specialist provider of retirement and life insurance products in Germany with €5bn of assets under management, 600k policies and around 300 employees. Cinven identified an opportunity to better serve the market by consolidating the highly fragmented German life insurance sector and investing in best-in-class technology to create an industry-leading single, modern business platform.

Since the Cinven Funds’ investment, Cinven’s Financial Services Sector team and DACH Regional team have continued to partner closely together to drive considerable investment in, and growth at, the Company, that has since been renamed Viridium Group, reflecting the evolution of the business. Working closely with the management team, Cinven executed an ambitious growth plan that included acquiring Skandia, Entis and Proxalto, formerly Generali Leben. It developed a highly effective platform to position the Company for continued leadership in the European life insurance market.

With Cinven’s support, Viridium developed and successfully implemented various key strategic priorities:

  • Investing more than €700m in a single state-of-the-art business platform across technology and operations to ensure improved efficiency and future scalability;
  • Implementing a refined asset management strategy with improved returns to customers;
  • Enhancing the customer support function to deliver strong customer service levels;
  • Delivering operational excellence initiatives to enhance the productivity of the organisation; and
  • Appointing an industry-leading management team with significant experience, that has presided over a winning culture across the organisation.

As a result of Cinven’s significant investment in the Company, and the ambitious growth plan successfully implemented, Viridium has become one of the largest and most advanced life insurance consolidation platforms globally.

Bruno Schick, Co-Managing Partner and Head of the DACH team at Cinven, said:

“Cinven is proud to have built Viridium from the ground-up and developed it into Germany’s leading life insurance consolidation platform. This sale to a consortium of top-tier global insurers and asset managers, with the continued involvement of Hannover Re and Generali, provides an excellent foundation for continued growth and highlights the strategic value of Viridium. It’s a clear reflection of Cinven’s unparalleled leadership in the Financial Services Sector and the DACH region.”

Samy Jazaerli, Senior Principal in Cinven’s Financial Services Sector team added:

“The investment by Cinven Funds in Viridium is a testament to Cinven’s long-term vision, commitment to excellence and focus on sustainable value creation. Viridium is now perfectly positioned for continued growth. With numerous further strategic opportunities in the European life insurance sector and Viridium’s proven capabilities, the company is ideally placed, and we wish Viridium every success in the years to come.”

Dr Tilo Dresig, CEO of Viridium Group commented:

“I would like to thank Cinven for its valuable support and partnership throughout its investment. Cinven’s entrepreneurial approach, insurance expertise, and our shared vision have been key to Viridium’s development as a leading German life insurer. As a result, the company is now strategically positioned to seize significant future growth. It has been a pleasure working together to reach this important milestone for Viridium. We look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Cinven was advised by Goldman Sachs International and Fenchurch Advisory (M&A), Freshfields (Legal), KPMG (Financial), Willis Towers Watson (Actuarial), Bearing Point (Operations), Capgemini (Technology), EY (Tax) and Deloitte (Structuring).

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1 Generali Financial Holdings FCP-FIS Sub-fund 2, a sub-fund of Generali Financial Holdings FCP-FIS.