BCP pension fund sells position in Dutch insurer valued at €100 million

BCP’s pension fund sold its 2.73% position in Dutch insurer Achmea, which was valued at over 100 million euros at the end of last year. BCP’s connection to the Dutch financial group, which was once the second largest shareholder in the Portuguese bank, goes back more than two decades.

Achmea confirmed to ECO that it bought that stake from BCP’s pension fund in December last year as part of a share buyback plan worth 131 million and which also included the acquisition of Stichting Beheer Aandelen Achmea’s position, which amounted to 0.94%.

The share buyback aimed to simplify the shareholder structure of the group controlled by Achmea Association, which now holds more than 68% after this operation. The BCP pension fund, managed by Ageas, was the third largest shareholder in the Dutch insurance group, but no longer has any stake. Rabobank is the second-largest shareholder with 30%.

According to the Portuguese bank’s report and accounts, the pension fund’s position in Achmea was valued at €102.8 million. Achmea is not listed on the stock exchange. The position in Achmea has been “replaced by an exposure to the European index,” the bank reveals.

BCP’s connection with Achmea goes back over two decades, when both institutions pooled their insurance businesses in the consortium of European insurers Eureko in 2000. From that merger a new pan-European insurance group was born, which was 72.2% controlled by Achmea, while the Portuguese bank kept almost 23%.

However, after the failure of Eureko’s IPO and the impact of 9/11 on the insurance sector, BCP sold its position in the Dutch group in 2002 to reacquire Seguros & Pensões Gere, which had been sold in exchange for the position in Eureko. Later, in 2011, Eureko NV was merged into its parent company Achmea.

In between, around 2007, Eureko became BCP’s second largest shareholder, with more than 9% of the Portuguese bank.