HSBC Holdings Regulatory News (HSBA)

14 Jul 2005 17:39

HSBC Holdings PLC14 July 2005 HSBC BRASIL SELLS ITS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE BUSINESS TO HDI SEGUROS HSBC Seguros (Brasil) S.A. has entered into an agreement to sell its subsidiaryHSBC Seguros de Automoveis e Bens Ltda., a property and casualty (P&C) insuranceunderwriting business, to HDI Seguros S.A., an indirect subsidiary of the Germaninsurer Talanx Group. The transaction also includes a long-term operational agreement whereby HDI willbe the preferred provider of P&C insurance products to be distributed throughthe HSBC Bank Brasil network. The agreed total consideration to be paid by HDI is BRL300 million(approximately US$128 million). The consideration will be paid in two tranches,BRL100 million at the signing of the agreement to sell and the remainder uponcompletion of the transaction. The closing of the transaction is subject to obtaining final approval from theBrazilian insurance regulator SUSEP. As a result, HSBC, through its insurance brokerage house and its network of morethan 2,000 points of sale, will distribute HDI's P&C insurance products, whilstHSBC Seguros (Brasil) will continue to underwrite and develop its activities inthe life assurance and pensions business. Emilson Alonso, chief executive of the HSBC Group in Brazil, said: "Thistransaction represents a major commitment for both HSBC and Talanx. For HSBC, weare convinced that it will benefit our customers by providing them with anincreasingly competitive product offering and quality service." Christian Hinsch, Head of Insurance at Talanx Group, said: "This agreement withHSBC gives us access to clients across the whole country, through a distributionnetwork of more than 2,000 points of sale. The transaction creates a mutuallybeneficial relationship between two strong companies." Notes to editors: The HSBC GroupHSBC Seguros (Brasil) is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank Brasil, a memberof the HSBC Group which, with about 9,800 offices in 77 countries andterritories and assets of US$1,277 billion at 31 December 2004, is one of theworld's largest banking and financial services organisations. The Talanx GroupHeadquartered in Hannover, Talanx is Germany's third largest insurance companywith total premium production of more than EUR14 billion. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange