The price made the difference. HSBC and Matmut confirmed in two separate press releases that they had concluded a memorandum of understanding, as revealed by L'Agefi. Under this agreement, Matmut would acquire HSBC Assurances Vie (France) for a cash amount of 925 million euros. The transaction concerns 20 billion euros of life insurance outstandings for a net result of 77 million euros, with a solvency ratio of 287%. Despite this sum, the operation would result in a pre-tax loss of around 100 million euros for HSBC Continental Europe. If this loss appears significant, it is out of all proportion to that of 1.9 billion euros that the sale of its French banking network cost the British bank.
This sum leaves some bankers and advisors wondering, for whom the price is much higher than that of 700 million euros which was circulating before Matmut took the advantage. The names of Groupama, or BPCE, had been circulating among the contenders, but especially the Cerberus fund, owner of the French HSBC network renamed CCF, which was expected to win.
Diversification
The Matmut group did not hesitate to pay a high price to accelerate its diversification. “ The acquisition of HSBC Assurances Vie (France) (…) would allow our group to better balance our mix between property and casualty insurance, health insurance and savings businesses,” declared Nicolas Gomart, vice-president and general manager of the Matmut Group after the formalization of the agreement. The operation will not only concern outstanding amounts, but also HSBC Assurance Vie's existing distribution agreements which are not called into question. For its part, Matmut conceded the conclusion of a “long-term agreement” so that HSBC Global Asset Management (France) continues its partnership with HSBC Assurances Vie. Life insurance in the hands of Matmut will therefore continue to be a natural distribution channel for HSBC's asset management.
This operation must be presented to staff representatives and remains subject to the required regulatory authorizations. It should, if all goes well, be effective in the second half of 2025.
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