Allianz boss Oliver Bäte in hunt for big UK deal such as RSA or Aviva
Ben Harrington
June 17 2018, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
The Allianz chief executive Oliver Bäte is said to have a hit list of possible acquisitionsCHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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The German insurance giant Allianz is on the prowl for a large-scale acquisition, with a possible takeover approach for FTSE 100 rivals RSA and Aviva among options being considered.
Oliver Bäte, the Allianz chief executive, is said to have been working with investment bankers for several months on a hit list of possible deals.
The former McKinsey consultant is keen to spend some of his growing cash pile, and is said to have been frustrated at missing out on Bermudan reinsurer XL Group, sold to Axa in March for $15.3bn (£12bn).
Zurich, and possibly even Australia’s QBE, are also said to be in Bäte’s sights.
“Bäte badly wants to make an acquisition.” said the chief executive of one global insurer. “That said, I don’t believe they would do anything hostile.”
Allianz has about 85m customers in 70 countries, employing 140,000 people. Its market capitalisation is €78bn (£68bn) — more than three times the size of Aviva, or ten times as big as RSA.
Bäte has returned about €23bn of cash to Allianz shareholders in the past five years, yet his solvency buffers continue to grow. He has secured a number of smaller scale acquisitions and joint venture deals in recent months, including a tie-up with LV in the UK.
Allianz, Aviva and RSA all declined to comment.
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