Mergers: Commission approves joint acquisition of HDI Poland by Talanx and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance

Brussels, 22-11-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of joint control over two Polish insurance companies HDI Asekuracja S.A and HDI-Gerling Życie S.A by Talanx International AG and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, respectively a German and a Japanese insurer. The two acquired companies are currently solely controlled by Talanx. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns because the merged entity would continue to face a number of strong competitors.

The transaction concerns the Polish insurance market only. The Commission examined the competitive effects of the proposed acquisition in the markets for life and non-life insurance, where the parties’ activities overlap. As the two parent companies are active on the market for reinsurance, the transaction would also create a vertical relationship.

The Commission found that the transaction would not raise competition concerns because of the parties’ moderate combined market shares, the absence of market share increase resulting from the transaction and the presence of a sufficient number of strong competitors on the markets concerned.

The Commission last examined the affected markets in April 2011, when Talanx and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company acquired joint control over WARTA (see case M.6521). The competitive conditions in these markets have not materially changed since then.

As a result, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area¹ (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 17 October 2012.

Companies and products

Talanx International AG is a subsidiary of Talanx AG, which in turn is a subsidiary of the German mutual insurance company HDI V.a.G. It is active worldwide on the markets of life and non-life insurance and reinsurance.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company is a Japanese insurance company, providing both life and non-life insurance services and to a much lesser extent reinsurance. In Poland, it only operates through its shareholdings in WARTA (both WARTA Non-Life and WARTA Life) and TU Europa, both of which are jointly controlled with Talanx.

HDI Asekuracja S.A and HDI-Gerling Życie S.A are Polish companies providing non-life insurance and life and reinsurance services, respectively.

Merger control rules and procedures

The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

The vast majority of notified mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review. From the moment a transaction is notified, the Commission generally has a total of 25 working days to decide whether to grant approval (Phase I) or to start an in-depth investigation (Phase II).

More information on the case is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=2_M_6743