France to see significant acceleration of run-off activity
Imminent introduction of Solvency II will act as a trigger for
the legacy insurance market in mainland Europe.
The size of the non-life European run-off insurance market is
estimated at €247bn, according to PwC. Of this, France and the
Benelux countries account for around €41bn.
However, transactional activity in the sector has been
relatively modest in continental Europe. Although the last six
months have seen a noticeable increase in the number of deals in
Germany, this has not been the case in France, in spite of the fact
that French insurers and reinsurers hold a significant amount of
liabilities in run-off on their balance sheets. These liabilities
are mainly managed in-house, although we have seen some disposals
recently.
