Finland's Sampo buys remaning stake in UK insurer Hastings (updated)
08/12/2021 08:41
(Adds CEO quote, context)
HELSINKI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Finnish insurance group Sampo
SAMPO.HE has bought a 30% stake in British property and
casualty insurance company Hastings from South Africa's Rand
Merchant Investment (RMI), Sampo said on Wednesday.
The 685 million pound ($907.08 million) deal includes an
option that RMI held to buy 10% of Hastings from Sampo by May
2022 and now makes Sampo the sole owner of Hastings.
Sampo has been growing cash reserves by selling stake in
Finnish Nordea bank NDAFI.HE after the financial group last
year said it would focus on insurance business.
"As the sole owner of Hastings, Sampo will gain full control
of strategy, governance and capital management, enabling more
agile decision making and frictionless knowledge sharing with If
P&C," Sampo's Chief Executive Torbjorn Magnusson said.
Sampo and RMI bought Hastings in late 2020.
($1 = 0.7552 pounds)
(Reporting by Essi Lehto, Editing by Louise Heavens)
((Essi.Lehto@thomsonreuters.com; +358505412375;))