Sabah – Germany’s Allianz has boosted its presence in the Turkish insurance market with the acquisition of 93.9 percent shares of Yapi Kredi Sigorta, the insurance arm of Turkish-Italian partnered Yapi Kredi Bank, for TRY 1.6 billion (Approx. EUR 684 million), becoming the top supplier of a property and casualty insurance services in one of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world.
The German insurer has also rose in rank to be the second biggest provider of life and pension services in Türkiye with the move, thanks to Yapi Kredi Sigorta’s pensioning unit, Yapi Kredi Emeklilik.
Already a strong player in Türkiye with over 1.4 million customers, Allianz will take advantage of Türkiye-wide branches of Yapi Kredi Bank to market its products for the next 15 years.
“Due to its robust economy and large population with a median age below 30, Türkiye is one of the fastest growing insurance markets” said Allianz board member Oliver Baete about the deal, adding that being the market leader in an emerging country located between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia is critical for the company.
Seen as strategic growth market by the global insurance industry, Türkiye’s favorable demographics and rising income levels offer lucrative opportunities for insurance service providers. The non-life premiums in total correspond to only 1.3 percent of the country’s GDP according to 2011 figures released by the Association of the Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Türkiye (TSRSB), well below the European average.