( January 20, 2011, 08:30 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: The European Commission has cleared plans by a consortium led by private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Apollo Global Management to acquire Brit Insurance.The European Commission has approved under the Merger Regulation the acquisition of the general insurance and reinsurance group Brit Insurance Holdings Ltd o of the Netherlands, by private equity investment funds CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS S.A., and Apollo Management L.P. The deal does not raise any competition concerns in the insurance and reinsurance markets.
Brit Insurance, headquartered in the Netherlands, specialises in commercial insurance, underwriting of a diverse portfolio of classes of insurance and reinsurance and; offering protection for business worldwide, through a distribution channel centred on brokers and intermediaries. CVC, of Luxembourg, holds controlling interests in AA/Saga, which provides non-life insurance, insurance underwriting services, distribution services and financial services products primarily in the UK. Apollo, a US-based private equity investment fund, holds Athene Life Re, a reinsurance company active in fixed life insurance annuity policies.
The Commission's investigation has shown that the acquisition of Brit Insurance by Apollo and CVC does not raise any competition concerns because of the very small horizontal and vertical overlaps involved.
The Commission also examined two potential overlaps between the portfolio of companies of CVC and Apollo in markets wholly unrelated to those where Brit Insurance is active. It concluded that these virtual overlaps do not result in any spill-over effects within the meaning of Article 2(4) of the Merger Regulation.
The Commission, therefore, concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
The transaction was notified to the Commission on 6 December 2010....
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