The BNP Paribas group sold the Cardiff company to a group of investors from the Russian Federation

Foreign insurance companies are reducing their presence on the Russian market. The first transaction in 2024 was the sale of the Cardiff company from the French group BNP Paribas to a pool of Russian investors. Experts point to the high quality indicators of the company with foreign participation and do not rule out its further sale to a larger insurer.

The Cardif insurance company, owned by the French BNP Paribas Cardif (part of the BNP Paribas banking group), has changed owners. According to Interfax, now the former chairman of the board of Post Bank Dmitry Rudenko has become the owner of 40% of the insurance company. Several other investors received 9% each: Sergey Kiselev, Dmitry Rudash, Vladimir Tarkhanov, Ruben Saghatelyan, Alla Vainilavichute. Cardif CEO Konstantin Kozlov received 15% of the company. The corresponding changes were made to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) on April 4.

A transaction involving the purchase of a foreign insurer by Russian investors in 2024 is taking place for the first time, experts interviewed note. According to Expert RA, at the beginning of 2022, about 20 insurance companies with foreign capital operated on the Russian market. They accounted for about 5% of direct insurance premiums. In April 2022, the Inteross Group, as part of the transaction to purchase Rosbank, acquired the companies Societe Generale Insurance and Societe Generale Life Insurance (now RB Insurance and RB Life Insurance). In May, the Swiss Zurich Insurance Group transferred its Russian business to top managers of the Russian company. The Interholding company agreed in July to purchase 50% plus 1 share in subsidiaries of the Allianz Group. American International Group sold its Russian subsidiary to private investors (see “Kommersant” dated December 19, 2022). There are no more than ten foreign insurance companies or insurance companies with a foreign share in Russia on the market. According to the Bank of Russia for last year, the amount of foreign capital participation in the total authorized capital of insurers decreased by almost half and as of December 31, 2023 amounted to 4.79%.

The Cardiff company was acquired as part of the general process of Western companies leaving the Russian insurance industry, states Alexey Yanin, managing director for ratings of insurance and investment companies at Expert RA. In 2022, BNP Paribas decided to suspend transactions in Russia after the introduction of sanctions.

Small foreign companies have accumulated expertise, IT systems, personnel, and their size makes them more flexible, making it easier to develop in the direction that meets the needs of new shareholders, notes Vladimir Shur, director of Kept’s practice for working with companies in the financial sector. Plus, the smaller size means the price is lower. This is important: if you later have to invest in the company, such investments will pay off faster.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutor at a large insurance company, three years ago such a company could have been valued at about 20 billion rubles. taking into account the quality of business and high standards of management. But at present, Cardiff, like other foreign insurers, could be bought at a significant discount. According to independent expert Andrei Barhota, the transaction could have been completed for only 0.6–0.9 capital.

Experts believe that the company will continue to operate in its segments. According to Vladimir Shur, in the case of Cardiff, it is important that last year the market for credit life insurance and accident and illness insurance (the company’s key product) grew by 20%. This year, growth will most likely slow down due to an increase in the key rate, but the forecasts are still optimistic, the expert notes. At the same time, Mr. Barhota does not rule out improving Cardiff’s individual indicators in order to prepare for “merging into a larger structure.”

Yulia Poslavskaya