SCOR TO BUY PREVOYANCE RE, STRENGTHENS LIFE ARM

French reinsurer Scor is to buy its smaller French rival Prévoyance et Réassurance (Prévoyance Re) for €53m ($82.6m) in an all-share deal. The seller is Malakoff Médéric, an insurer headed by Guillame Sarkozy, brother of the French president. Under the deal, Malakoff Médéric will buy a supplementary number of Scor shares on the open market, giving it a 3% stake in Scor on the conclusion of the deal. Also as part of the agreement Scor has signed a five-year commercial contract with Malakoff Médéric. Guillame Sarkozy will join the board of Scor, which noted that the successful conclusion of the deal relied on the prior exit of certain minority shareholders, including Munich Re, and the approval of the relevant regulators. Mr Sarkozy said that “Malakoff Médéric’s stake in the equity capital of Scor illustrates the desire of both groups to commit to a long-term capital, industrial and commercial partnership”. Prévoyance Re reinsures risks in the fields of health and traditional life assurance. Its primary clients are provident institutions and other mutual insurance organisations. In 2007 it recorded gross written premiums of €93.3m, net written premiums of €77m and generated a net income of €4.6m.