CCR plots new path for CCR Re, willing to sell €200m stake to ‘new shareholder’

French government-backed  CCR has plotted a new course for CCR Re, writing reinsurance in the private international markets, in a move aimed at driving profitable growth at its subsidiary while raising fresh capital and steering away its ownership from being a state-controlled carrier.

CCR’s board of directors have passed a set of resolutions in line with its strategic plan introduced in 2021, aiming to refocus its business activity and strengthen its resources in public-sector reinsurance, particularly with a view to dealing with the challenges that lie ahead, such as insurance for natural disasters.

The board is willing to sell, by July 2023, a €200 million stake in CCR Re to a “new shareholder” (or group of shareholders) as part of a capital increase, which will result in holding a majority stake in the market subsidiary.

The transaction will be part of the process of separating CCR’s market activities from its public-sector activities, the company’s top officials have declared. It will also allow CCR Re to reach the “critical size and level of profitability” it needs to self-finance its growth in line with market rates.

Under the business plan adopted by CCR Re, it will therefore seek to write €2 billion in gross premiums by 2027, with a 10% profitability, the company said.

To support these strategic initiatives and CCR’s ambitions in relation to public-sector reinsurance, the company’s board has also decided to strengthen CCR’s executive management team and approved the appointment of Edouard Vieillefond as deputy chief executive officer, alongside Bertrand Labilloy, who remains chief executive officer of CCR and chairman and chief executive officer of CCR Re.

Jacques Le Pape, chairman of CCR’s board of directors, said: “We are going to provide CCR Re with the resources it needs to grow and become autonomous. This will allow CCR to strengthen its public-sector activities, at a time when natural disasters are becoming more frequent and more intense.”

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