Finland News

S&P Rates Sampo’s Nonlife Units ‘A-‘, CreditWatch Positive

Standard & Poor’s assigned its single-‘A’-minus long-term counterparty and insurer financial strength ratings to Finnish insurer Sampo Industrial Holdings Insurance Co., the nonlife subsidiaries of Sampo PLC, and placed them on CreditWatch with positive implications. The rating agency’s action takes …

Sampo Joins Skandia, Storebrand in If

Finland’s Sampo will join two other Nordic Insurers, Sweden’s Skandia and Norway’s Storebrand as a shareholder in If Property and Casualty Insurance Ltd. following the transfer of its non-life operations to the group. When completed, Sampo will own a 38 …

Sampo Extends Offer For Storebrand

Finland’s Sampo plc has extended its offer to the shareholders of Norway’s Storebrand ASA for one month. The new deadline for acceptance of the $2.2 billion offer is now set to expire August 10th. Although Sampo announced that 83.5 percent …

Sampo Sells Dutch Unit, Storebrand Board Backs Bid

Finland’s Sampo announced that it has agreed to sell its Dutch unit, Sampo Industrial Insurance N.V. to U.K. insurer Hampden plc; the price will be based on the next 5 years operating results. The move comes as part of Sampo’s …

Sampo Bid For Storebrand Meets Government Opposition

The Norwegian government continued to voice opposition to the $2.3 billion bid by Finland’s Sampo to take over Storebrand, Norway’s largest insurer. According to a report in London’s Financial Times, a meeting between Norway’s Finance Minister, Karl-Eirik Schott-Pedersen, and Sampo …

Sampo Confirms Bid For Storebrand, If

Finland’s Sampo Insurance PLC confirmed expectations yesterday with a $2.28 billion bid for Norway’s Storebrand, a 31 percent premium over its recent estimated value, and 16 percent above the rival bid launched by Den Norske Bank. Storebrand’s board of Directors …

Sampo-Leonia Board Approves Name Change, Share Split

The Board of Directors of Finland’s largest insurer, Sampo-Leonia plc, at its annual meeting yesterday, approved proposals to change the company’s name to “Sampo plc,” effective April 9th, and to split the shares on a 5 to 1 basis. Unlike …

CGNU Nears Sale of U.S., Polish Units

According to the Financial Times CGNU is close to concluding a deal for its U.S. property/casualty business to White Mountains Insurance Group, a Bermuda based holding company which operates insurance subsidiaries in the U.S. The report also indicated that CGNU …

New Speculation Concerning Future of Scandinavian

Sweden’s Skandia, Norway’s Storebrand and Finland’s Pohjola originally agreed to merge their respective p/c business into a pan-Scandinavian group with the unlikely name of “If….” Pohjola recently announced that it was pulling out of the deal, which caused analysts to …