Schoenherr has advised UNIQA Insurance Group AG ("UNIQA") on the sale of its Italian insurance company UNIQA Assicurazioni SpA ("UNIQA Assicurazioni") to the Italian mutual insurance company Società Reale Mutua di Assicurazioni for a consideration of EUR 295m. The sale includes UNIQA Assicurazioni and its subsidiaries operating in Italy – UNIQA Previdenza SpA and UNIQA Life SpA. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the first half of 2017 following the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

"We are happy that we could assist UNIQA on this strategic divestment by contributing our experience in M&A sale processes and our industry know-how in the insurance sector," said Alexander Popp, Schoenherr corporate/m&a partner.

Schoenherr assisted, jointly with the Italian law firm Legance, in the sale process, preparing and negotiating the transaction documents and providing regulatory advice to UNIQA. As one of the leading insurance groups in Austria and CEE, UNIQA has approximately 40 companies in 19 countries and serves more than 10 million customers. In October 2016 UNIQA completed the merger of three primary insurers with UNIQA Österreich Versicherungen AG as the acquiring company. Schoenherr also advised on the merger, which resulted in UNIQA and Raiffeisen Versicherung becoming two of the strongest insurance brands in Austria.

UNIQA's Italian enterprise was founded in 1965 and the three companies currently employ 321 people cumulatively. The subsidiaries generated premiums written of EUR 1,114m in 2015, and made a positive contribution of around EUR 25m to the Group’s earnings.

With a history spanning nearly two centuries, Società Reale Mutua di Assicurazioni is the largest mutual insurance company in Italy. Headquartered in Torino, the company offers a broad range of both life and non-life insurance services to individuals, families and businesses.

The Schoenherr team advising UNIQA consisted of Alexander Popp (partner, corporate/m&a), Peter Feyl (partner, banking, finance & capital markets), Robert Bachner (partner, corporate/m&a), Manuel Ritt-Huemer (attorney at law, corporate/m&a), Alfred Amann (associate, corporate/m&a), and Marco Thorbauer (associate, corporate/m&a and tax).

UNIQA was supported on Italian legal aspects by the law firm Legance, while KPMG Corporate Finance Italy and Unicredit were financial advisers to UNIQA.

Società Reale Mutua di Assicurazioni was assisted by Tosetto, Weigmann e Associati as legal counsel and BNP Paribas as financial adviser.