Helvetia : finalises takeover of Basler Austria

Helvetia has gone through with the announced takeover of Basler Versicherungen Ltd in Austria (Basler Austria). With the required approval of FMA and the Austrian Federal Competition Authority, the transaction was finalised as of the end of August. At the agreed purchase price of EUR 130 million, Helvetia Insurance Ltd, Vienna (Helvetia Austria) has become the new owner of Basler Austria. By executing this transaction, Helvetia expands its volume in Austria by more than 50 per cent, and, with its premium volume of approximately EUR 400 million, becomes one of the Top 10 insurance companies.

New Chairman of the Executive Board

To facilitate the impending integration, the executive bodies of both companies will be staffed with the same people. At an extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting to be held today, the current members of the Supervisory Board of Helvetia Austria will be elected to the Supervisory Board of Basler Austria (Stefan Loacker as Chairman, Paul Norton and Markus Gemperle as members).

From 1 October 2014, Helvetia Austria will be headed by Otmar Bodner, former Chairman of the Executive Board of Basler Austria. Burkhard Gantenbein, the previous CEO who had already decided at the end of last year to leave the company, will hand over his office as of the end of September. Gantenbein will move on towards new subject areas and challenges outside the field of insurance.

The existing Executive Board of Helvetia Austria, which consists of Jürgen Horstmann (Life Insurance), Thomas Neusiedler (Non-Life) and Werner Panhauser (Sales) will be confirmed and will be supplemented by Josef Gutschik (formerly CFO Basler Austria) as CFO (as of 1 September 2014). As of 1 September 2014, the Executive Board of Basler Austria will have the same composition. Gerhard Liegl, formerly Chief Sales Officer (CSO) of Basler Austria, will serve as Head of Agency Sales of Helvetia Austria from 1 September 2014. 

"Basler" to be replaced by "Helvetia"

Basler Austria is to be merged with Helvetia Austria during the first half of 2015. The brand name "Basler" will continue to be used until the end of the year and will subsequently be replaced by "Helvetia".

Positive performance under Burkhard Gantenbein

Stefan Loacker, CEO of the Helvetia Group and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Helvetia Austria, comments as follows: "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Burkhard Gantenbein for his achievements in connection with the management and development of our business in Austria. He has successfully promoted the company in all areas with a high degree of competence, integrity and credibility. I greatly regret his departure, but I am happy that thanks to the takeover of Basler Austria under his leadership, Helvetia has become one of Austria's top 10 insurance companies. I am convinced that his successor Otmar Bodner will successfully manage the upcoming integration and promote Helvetia Austria's positive development on a long-term basis. I wish him and the expanded Executive Board at lot of fun and success."

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About the Helvetia Group

Over the past 150 years, the Helvetia Group has developed out of various Swiss and foreign insurance companies into a successful insurance group with a presence throughout Europe. Helvetia now has branches in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy and France. It also conducts some of its investment and financing operations via subsidiary and fund companies in Luxembourg and Jersey. The Group's head office is located in the Swiss town of St. Gallen. Helvetia offers life policies, insurance against loss and reinsurance. With around 5,200 employees, it provides services for more than 2.7 million customers. In the 2013 financial year, Helvetia generated net income of CHF 363.8 million on a business volume of CHF 7.5 billion. The registered shares of Helvetia Holding are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the code HELN.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.

This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.

The purpose of this document is to inform shareholders of the Helvetia Group and the public about the completion of the purchase of Basler Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft in Austria. This document does not constitute an offer or a solicitation to exchange, buy or subscribe to securities, nor does it constitute an offering circular as defined by Art. 652a of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus as defined by the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Should Helvetia Group in the future make one or more capital increases, investors should make their decision to buy or to subscribe for new shares or other securities solely based on the relevant offering circular. This document is also available in German, French and Italian. The German version is binding.