A consortium led by Polaris and Acathia, comprising Sampension and Unigestion, among others, has acquired Danica Pension Försäkringsaktiebolag (publ) (”Danica Pension Sverige”)for a total consideration of approximately SEK 2.6 billion, corresponding to approximately DKK 1.9 billion (approximately EUR 255 million). Danica Pension Sverige was established in 1999, has around 60 employees and is the sixth largest life insurance company in Sweden with 150,000 retail customers and 15,000 corporate customers.
“We see attractive opportunities in the Swedish pension market and are convinced that Danica Pension Sverige is the company best positioned to benefit from these opportunities and continue its impressive growth and development in the coming years. Danica Pension Sverige has won significant market share in the past decade and created a unique IT platform, ensuring high efficiency and offering scalability to cover many more partners and customers under the new independent ownership,” says Jan Dahlqvist, Partner at Polaris.
Danica Pension Sverige has delivered strong growth for a number of years and increased premium payments by 39% in 2017 to DKK 12.7 billion. The company has developed a highly efficient IT platform and focuses solely on the administration of pension plans, while asset management and distribution is managed by external partners. This focus has reduced administration costs significantly in recent years, and Danica Pension Sverige is today among the most efficient companies in the Swedish market. With the support of the new consortium of owners, the company will invest in winning further market share and continuing its strong growth trajectory.
“Danica Pension Sverige operates in an attractive sector based on a cost-effective platform and an attractive distribution setup through partners. Together with Polaris and the other co-investors, we have seen a great opportunity to invest in a company that generates both growth and earnings,” says Hasse Jørgensen, CEO of co-investor Sampension.
In addition to Polaris and Sampension –which is Denmark’s third-largest pension company –the consortium of owners consists of, among others, leading Swiss asset manager Unigestion and German private equity firm Acathia, which specializes in financial services.
“We look forward to further developing Danica Pension Sverige and contributing to the realization of the company’s potential in collaboration with our co-investors, whom we have known for several years. We consider it a vote of confidence that our long-standing investors Sampension and Unigestion have entered the consortium with significant ownership stakes, and we are pleased to be able to draw on Acathia’s unique insight when it comes to investments in European financial services,” says Jan Johan Kühl, Managing Partner at Polaris.
While the new ownership structure will entail a name change for the company, there will be no alterations to existing cooperation agreements and customer relations, and the incumbent management team will remain in place. Danica Pension Sverige and Danske Bank will continue the existing distribution agreement for Swedish pension products.
”We are pleased to be able to further develop the company in collaboration with this strong group of owners. I am convinced that this will give the company the best platform to continue its current growth path, which will also contribute to better solutions for Danske Bank’s customers and our other collaboration partners,” says Claes Carlson, CEO at Danica Pension Sverige.
The transaction is conditional upon relevant authority approvals.