Mergers and acquisitions in the insurance sector picked up since the early 1990s. With the opening up of the financial sectors including the insurance sector in many countries due to economic reforms during this period, the potential of mergers and acquisitions in the insurance sector increased substantially across the globe. Both within-border and cross-border mergers and acquisitions gained impetus in the insurance sector.
USA and UK lead the list of countries that feature among the top in terms of insurance mergers and acquisitions.
The other countries where mergers and acquisitions in the insurance sectors have been high are - Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Spain and Sweden. The value of M&A (mergers and acquisitions) deals in USA, however, is far more than the other nations.
In a comparative study between these thirteen countries from 1990 to 2003, it was found that USA accounted for almost half the total value of mergers and acquisitions of these countries. UK, the second country on the list accounted for only 16.1% of the total value compared to 49.9% of USA. Out of the 1413 insurance mergers and acquisitions in these countries in this period, 606 took place in the USA.
The comparative figures of these countries are tabulated below -
| Country | Number of M&A | Value ( in million dollars) |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 606 | 210167 |
| UK | 217 | 67586 |
| Germany | 91 | 19870 |
| Italy | 82 | 19912 |
| Spain | 73 | 3116 |
| France | 64 | 24551 |
| Canada | 62 | 9700 |
| Netherlands | 58 | 25440 |
| Australia | 48 | 4778 |
| Japan | 47 | 17807 |
| Belgium | 30 | 3739 |
| Switzerland | 21 | 11451 |
| Sweden | 14 | 2806 |
| TOTAL | 1413 | 420922 |
During the period 1990 to 2003, insurance mergers and acquisitions accounted for 14% of the total mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector in terms of numbers and 18% in terms of value in the top 13 countries. However while the average value of insurance mergers and acquisitions were 13% in the finance sector in the period 1990-1995, it rose to 23% between 2001 and 2003. Numerically, the maximum mergers and acquisitions in the insurance sector took place between 1996 and 2000 with the average annual figure in this period being 130.
