Ageas to consider S&P rating after Groupama swoop

Ageas chief executive Barry Smith said the insurer would look at getting an official Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rating once the deal has been completed for Groupama’s UK insurance arm.

Ageas UK currently has a BBBpi financial strength rating (FSR) from S&P based on publicly available information.

AG Insurance, which does the underwriting for Ageas Group, has an FSR of A-.

Last week, the insurer confirmed that an agreement has been signed to acquire Groupama UK for £116m.

Despite Groupama UK being well capitalised, concerns had been raised after S&P downgraded its French parent company Groupama SA to BB from BBB-.

Smith said that Ageas would provide Groupama UK with added financial stability.

Smith said: “I think we will look at the rating after we have acquired it and then at how best to move forward so that we can give more confidence and comfort to the market.”

He continued: “I think it is pretty clear to us that Groupama has a strong proposition in the UK.

“It has a different range of products to what we offer so I think there is some complementary product extension with products that we don’t underwrite such as motorcycle and non-standard and specific niche markets like classic cars and caravan.”