Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Allianz SE on its acquisition of Zurich Insurance Company Ltd’s Moroccan subsidiary. The transaction was completed on November 4, following the regulatory approval.

This acquisition in Morocco, the second largest market for insurance in Africa, sees Allianz strengthening its presence on a continent, where it is already established in 15 countries, with continuing growth opportunities. Zurich Insurance in Morocco specializes in life and building insurances and has approximately 600,000 policyholders; it generated 114m euros in gross premiums written in 2015.

Bénédicte Denis, corporate partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Paris, comments: “We are delighted to have assisted Allianz on this significant transaction, which marks their entry into the fast growing and attractive insurance market of Morocco. The transaction went very smoothly and was completed is a reasonably short time frame.”

The Norton Rose Fulbright team that advised Allianz was led by Bénédicte Denis, corporate partner and financial institutions specialist in Paris, and Alain Malek, corporate partner in Paris and head of the Casablanca office. They were assisted by Anne Laure Bernard-Bouissières, of counsel, Stan Andreassen and Charlotte Grolimund on the corporate aspects of the transaction, by Orsolya Hegedus, of counsel and Souâde Messaoudi on the regulatory aspects. Partner Marta Giner Asins and Niloufar Keshavarz were in charge of the competition issues of the transaction. Partner Marc d’Haultfoeuille and Nadège Martin, of counsel, advised on the IT aspects.

Other counsel: KPMG advised Allianz on the financial aspects of the transaction and Milliman on the actuarial aspects.