Creating Value in Insurance Mergers and Acquisitions

The fundamental economics of the European insurance industry and specifically the impact of the recent economic crisis on the financial services sector are likely to cause a wave of M&A transactions in the insurance sector. An event study of the previous M&A cycle in the European insurance industry shows that M&A transactions on average achieve short-term value creation. However, there is a significant dispersion among individual transactions and, in the long term, the average M&A transaction destroys value. Andreas Schertzinger identifies determinants of successful transactions, such as transaction timing and diversifying transaction strategy, through a multivariate statistical analysis. Two case studies illustrate success factors specifically related to the conduct of transactions in greater detail.