GROUPAMA / 2019 Universal Registration Document

1 OVERVIEW OF THE GROUP History of the company

1.1

HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

The creation of Groupama is a story that goes back more than one hundred years. The starting point was the Act of 4 July 1900, which allowed the birth, then the subsequent organisation of the agricultural mutual insurance movement in France. The Agricultural Mutual Insurance Companies (Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles) were created to protect and serve the farmers who at that time represented 80% of the nation’s wealth. In the 20 th  century, they became the leading European agricultural insurer (source: internal). The Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles very quickly realised the need to reinvent themselves and open themselves up to other insurance markets and, more recently, to the banking business, in order to continue their vocation of serving the interests of agriculture and passing on the tradition of mutual insurance. In 1963, the Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles opened up their The name “Groupama” was created in 1986, bringing together all the entities of an insurance group that had adapted to the new economic conditions and the globalisation of the financial markets. In 1995, policyholders who were not part of the agricultural world – covered at the time by SAMDA, a subsidiary of Groupama created in 1963 to insure “non-agricultural” customers – became full members of their mutual. In 1998, on conclusion of a privatisation procedure involving major international groups, Groupama acquired Gan, a group whose business activities complemented those of Groupama. The acquisition resulted in the creation of one of the leading French multi-line insurers. In 2001, seeking to extend its services to include banking products, the Group joined forces with Société Générale, the leading French retail banking institution, with a view to creating a multi-channel bank for Groupama’s customers (Groupama Banque). Groupama plans to become a global player in financial insurance-banking. Also in 2001, the Board of Directors of the Central Mutual approved a structure consolidating the regional mutuals. A number of growth acquisitions were initiated in 2002 in France (acquisition of CGU Courtage, merged with and into Gan Eurocourtage) and at the international level (acquisition of Plus Ultra Generales in Spain). In 2003, the regional mutuals rolled out a banking product to Groupama’s members. The Group also obtained a non-life insurance licence for China. In addition, the Group’s national entities were restructured to be better adapted to its growth strategy. The Fédération Nationale Groupama was created and Groupama SA became the exclusive reinsurer of the regional mutuals following the dissolution of the Central Mutual, the Caisse Centrale des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles. business to the entire non-life insurance segment. In 1972, they started a life insurance business.

In 2006, Groupama acquired the Spanish subsidiaries of a French group, the Turkish insurance group Basak, the 6 th -largest insurer in Turkey (source: Foreign Economic Relations Division, 2006 data), as well as the British broker Carole Nash. In 2007, the Group’s international development intensified with the acquisition of the Nuova Tirrena insurance company, which held some 2% of the Italian non-life insurance market, strengthening the Group’s subsidiary in Italy. In the United Kingdom, the Group acquired two new brokers (Bollington Group and Lark Group). In 2007 and 2008, Groupama made strong advances in Central and Eastern Europe by acquiring the Greek insurer Phoenix Metrolife and Romanian insurance companies BT Asigurari and Asiban, and by strengthening its positions in Turkey, through the acquisition of insurance companies Güven Sigorta and Güven Hayat. Groupama also entered into a strategic partnership with OTP Bank, the leading independent bank in Central Europe, resulting in distribution agreements in nine countries and the acquisition of OTP’s insurance operations (OTP Garancia), the leading company in Hungary, as well as its insurance subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. Groupama also acquired a 35% stake in STAR, the leading company in the Tunisian insurance market. With a view to gaining an urban customer base and new distribution channels in France, in mid-2008 Groupama launched “Amaguiz.com”, a new brand intended for web sales only. In 2009, Groupama signed a partnership agreement with La Banque Postale for the distribution of non-life insurance products via a joint venture using La Banque Postale’s networks. The creation of Groupama Gan Vie, through the merger/takeover of Groupama Vie and Gan Eurocourtage Vie by Gan Assurances Vie and the transfer of the portfolios of Gan Patrimoine and Gan Prévoyance, enabled the consolidation of the Group’s activities into a single company in France. The Group’s French banking businesses have also been pooled through the merger of Groupama Banque and Banque Finama. At international level, the Group merged its Italian, Hungarian, Romanian and Turkish subsidiaries in order to strengthen its positions on all those markets. In 2010, the Group implemented a large number of partnerships in various areas. In the bancassurance market, the partnership agreement signed with La Banque Postale in 2009 resulted in the creation of a joint enterprise, La Banque Postale Assurances IARD, which is 65%-held by La Banque Postale and 35% by Groupama. At the end of 2010, this company launched its non-life insurance products (motor, home, legal protection) via remote-selling channels (internet and telephone), then progressively through La Banque Postale’s network of offices beginning in 2011.

4 Universal Registration Document 2019 - GROUPAMA ASSURANCES MUTUELLES

Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator