Allianz to sell Russian business to owner of Zetta Insurance, get minority stake in combined co

MOSCOW. June 3 (Interfax) - Allianz Group, Europe's largest insurer, has agreed to sell a majority stake in its Russian operations to Interholding LLC, the owner of Russian insurer Zetta Insurance, Allianz said in a press release.

Upon the completion of the transaction, Allianz will hold a minority stake of 49.9% in the combined company.

The transaction is estimated to have a negative impact of about 0.4 billion euros on Allianz's profit and loss account, the company said.

As of 2019, Interholding LLC was owned by Olma Investment Company chairman Oleg Yachnik.

Allianz Group has two companies in Russia, JSC Allianz and Allianz Life LLC. The former ranked 43rd among Russian insurers by premium revenue in 2021, Central Bank of Russia (CBR) data show. The company's premiums fell 8% to almost 4 billion rubles in 2021, while payouts jumped 45.6% to 1.7 billion rubles. The company's market share shrank to 0.25% in 2021 from 0.3% in 2020.

Allianz Life ranked 19th by premium revenues among Russian insurers in 2021, as its premiums grew by 12.3% to 17 billion rubles. Payouts rose by 32.4% to 9.6 billion rubles. The company's market share slipped to 0.9% in 2021 from 1% a year earlier. Among life insurers, the company ranked 13th in 2021. Life insurance premiums rose 15.4% to 6.5 billion rubles, while payouts on life insurance policies jumped 38.1% to 2.2 billion rubles.