SocGen buys stake in insurer

French bank Societe Generale is set to acquire a 50 percent stake in Antarius, an insurance company dedicated to French retail banking network Crédit du Nord.

The insurer is currently jointly owned by Aviva France and Crédit du Nord. The acquisition by SocGen will end the life-insurance partnership established with Aviva France.

Antarius' assets, which totalled €10.5 billion at the end of 2013, will take SocGen’s assets beyond the €100-billion threshold.

According to SocGen, the acquisition will complete within two years. Following this, the operational management of the company will be transferred to Sogécap, the French life-insurance company of the SocGen group. SocGen will wholly own Antarius, with Sogécap becoming a shareholder alongside Crédit du Nord.

Bernardo Sanchez-Incera, deputy chief executive officer at SocGen, said: “The insurance businesses are at the heart of the SocGen group's strategy and the bank intends to accelerate the roll-out of its bancassurance model in all its markets. We would like to thank Aviva for the quality of the relationship developed over the years with SocGen, and Credit du Nord in particular, and which has contributed to making this partnership a real success.”