On the way to the planned merger, Barmenia and Gothaer have reached the next important milestone: The member representative assemblies of both companies approved the merger agreements yesterday, and today the boards of directors are signing the agreements, which are, however, still subject to the approval of BaFin. The supervisory boards of the two insurance associations had already given the green light in advance.
“With the approval of the supervisory boards and member representatives and the signing of the merger agreements, we have created all the conditions for the planned merger on the part of both companies,” explains Barmenia CEO Andreas Eurich. Gothaer CEO Oliver Schoeller adds about the next steps: “We now need approval of the merger from BaFin. We hope that this will be granted in the course of August.” As soon as this approval is received, an application will be made for entry in the commercial register. The closing, i.e. the implementation of the merger, could then take place in September, less than a year after the plans were announced.
Statute stipulates parity
The extensive merger agreement sets out the specific measures for the design of the new joint company, which is to be called BarmeniaGothaer. It also includes the statutes and regulates the shareholdings. Gothaer Versicherungsbank VVaG is to hold 64 percent of the shares, Barmenia Versicherungen a. G. 36 percent. “One of the fundamental design principles for this merger is that everything happens on an equal footing. We have therefore anchored in the statutes that, despite the different shares, all important decisions can only be made unanimously. Equally important to us is the requirement that we build a joint company,” explains Schoeller.
Merger of personal insurers
One of the concrete measures to shape the new company is the merger of the life insurers. In a first step, the entire operational business, in particular the portfolio of Barmenia Lebensversicherung a. G., will be transferred to Gothaer Lebensversicherung AG in August. Immediately afterwards, Barmenia Leben will be merged with Barmenia Versicherungen aG.
The closing will also initiate the merger of Gothaer Kranken with Barmenia Kranken. This process will take up to three years. “For our customers, this will have no impact on their insurance coverage or their premiums,” says Andreas Eurich, CEO of Barmenia. “However, with the merger we will be able to offer them an even more balanced range of products and services.”
A top 10 insurer is created
With the merger, the new joint company will move up into the top 10 German insurers and thus significantly expand its market and competitive position. At the same time, one of the largest sales organizations in the market will be created with more than 4,500 agents.
Locations and staff levels remain unchanged
It was also agreed that the Wuppertal and Cologne locations should remain unchanged and that a three-year employment guarantee should apply to all employees from the day of the merger.
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