CHSH advises on the sale of Skandia insurance

CHSH has advised the Old Mutual insurance group, listed in the United Kingdom and South Africa, in connection with the signing of an agreement to sell the life insurance business of Skandia in Germany and Austria to the European finance investor Cinven and reinsurer Hannover Rück.

Dr. Clemens Hasenauer

CHSH has advised the Old Mutual insurance group, listed in the United Kingdom and South Africa, in connection with the signing of an agreement to sell the life insurance business of Skandia in Germany and Austria to the European finance investor Cinven and reinsurer Hannover Rück . The transaction is expected to be completed during the course of this year and is still subject to regulatory approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).

The seller was advised as to Austrian law by a team at CHSH led by partners Dr. Clemens Hasenauer and Johannes Prinz and as to German law by Dr. Jan Schröder, partner at Allen & Overy, who also acted as International Counsel during the transaction. The team at CHSH also consisted of Bernhard Wychera and Julia Raith. The advice provided comprised, in particular, information on aspects of company law, insurance supervision law and tax law, and also included consulting and coordinating with the supervisory authorities.

Skandia specialises in unit-linked life insurance products and has approximately 280 employees at its offices in Berlin and Vienna managing more than 400,000 policies and funds totalling EUR 4.9 billion.