Ageas is aBelgian multinationalinsurance company co-headquartered inBrussels. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 13 countries worldwide. The company was renamed fromFortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insurance activities remaining after the breakup and sale of thefinancial services groupFortis during the2008 financial crisis.
 | |
| Company type | Naamloze vennootschap /Société anonyme |
|---|---|
| Euronext Brussels: AGS BEL 20 component | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Predecessor | Fortis Holding |
| Founded | 1990 (as Fortis); 2010 (as Ageas) |
| Headquarters | Brussels,Belgium |
Key people | Bart De Smet(Chairman) Hans De Cuyper(CEO) |
| Products | Insurance |
| Revenue | €17.1 billion (2023)[1] |
| €1.17 billion (2023)[1] | |
Number of employees | 50,000(2023)[1] |
| Website | www.ageas.com |
In 2023, the company had 50,000 employees.[2]
History
editThe company's roots are in the 1824 foundation of the Belgianlife insurer Assurances Générales (now AG Insurance).[3] In 1990 AG took over theNetherlands-basedfirm AMEV/VSB to form Fortis.[4] AMEV/VSB had itself been formed earlier that year by the combination of asavings bank, VSB (Verenigde Spaarbank), and an insurer, AMEV, which followed the end of legislation preventing mergers between banks and insurers.[4] AMEV had originally been founded inUtrecht in 1920 as Algemeene Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Verzekeringsmaatschappijen (English:General Society for Operation of Insurance).[4]
After its creation, Fortis extended its activities toprivate andinvestment banking and toasset management, establishing subsidiaries internationally, and by 2007 it had become the 20th largest business in the world by revenue.[5] That year Fortis agreed to purchaseABN AMRO jointly withBanco Santander andRoyal Bank of Scotland Group, but the2008 financial crisis exacerbated problems with financing its part of the acquisition and prompted fears ofinsolvency.[6] Considered "too big to fail", Fortis received an €11.2 billionbailout from theBenelux governments[6] and saw itsretail bankingoperations in Belgium sold toBNP Paribas, and its insurance andbanking subsidiaries in the Netherlands nationalised.
The remaining assets of the company, consisting principally of insurance operations but also including some distressed assets, were rebranded Fortis Holding. In April 2010 its shareholders agreed a formal change of name to Ageas SA/NV, with ownership of the Fortis brand passing to BNP Paribas.[7]
On July 13, 2018, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (Gerechtshof Amsterdam) approved a €1.3 billioncollective settlement of claims asserted on behalf of shareholders of the formerFortis (now Ageas), under the authority of the Dutch Act on Collective Settlement of Mass Claims (Wet Collectieve Afwikkeling van Massaschade) or WCAM.[8]
In April 2024, it was revealed that BNP Paribas had acquiredFosun International's entire 9% stake in Ageas, worth €730 million.[9] In February 2025, BNP Paribas increased its stake in Ageas up to 15,07%.[10] In April 2025, Ageas announced that it has reached a deal withBain Capital to purchase British insureresure for 1.3 billion pounds.[11]
Operations
editThe company is the largest provider of insurance inBelgium,[7] owning 75% ofAG Insurance[12] (the remainder is held byFortis Bank N.V./S.A., which was sold toBNP Paribas in 2009). Products are sold through independent agents, brokers and financial planners, and through branches of BNP Paribas Fortis and its subsidiary Banque de La Poste/Bank van De Post.[13]
Ageas also wholly owns thesubsidiary Ageas Insurance International (formerly Fortis Insurance International), through which it is theUnited Kingdom's third-largest provider of privatevehicle cover and fourth-largest provider oftravel insurance through subsidiaries such asKwik Fit Insurance.[14] Ageas Insurance International also operates in France and Hong Kong and holds partnerships orjoint ventures in Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand. In addition, Ageas holds 45% of Royal Park Investments,[12] aspecial purpose vehicle[15] which manages a portfolio of "toxic"structured credit assets[16] previously held by Fortis Bank.
RIAS is ageneral insurance company that provides car, home, travel and caravan insurance. is a trading name of Ageas Retail Limited, who are authorised and regulated by theFinancial Conduct Authority.[17][18] It was established in 1992 by David Holden[19] as the Retirement Insurance Advisory Service, originally offering insurance products from a panel of insurers. RIAS was part ofFortis Group, until Fortis adopted an Ageas UK name, reflecting the company's status as a standalone global insurance group.[20]
In September 2012, Ageas acquiredGroupama's UK insurance operations, boosting its presence in the automobile and home sectors. The deal will see Ageas add another million policyholders in the UK.[21] In 2016, Ageas acquiredAXA insurance operations inPortugal, becoming the second largest insurer by premiums, the third Non-Life insurer (with a 14% market share) and the third largest Life insurer (with a 19% market share).[22]
In December 2024, it was announced that Ageas had agreed a 20 year partnership with Saga to distribute personal motor and household products to Saga's customers. As part of the deal, Ageas will acquire Acromas Insurance Company which is Saga's insurance underwriting business.[23]
In April 2025, Ageas announced the acquisition ofEsure fromBain Capital for €1.510bn.[24]
The Ageas UK head office is inEastleigh, with branches inBournemouth,Gloucester,London andManchester.[25]
Subsidiaries worldwide
edit
Belgium:AG Insurance (75% + 1 share), AGReal Estate (subsidiary ofAG Insurance at 100%),Royal Park Investments (50,67 %)
UK: Ageas UK Ltd (100%)
Portugal: Ageas Portugal Holdings SGPS (100%)
Turkey: AgeSA SA (40%)- Turkey: Aksigorta (36%)
Hong Kong: Ageas Asia Services Ltd (100%)- Hong Kong: WeTherapy Ltd (20%)
Malaysia and
Singapore: Maybank Ageas Holdings Berhad (31%)
Philippines: East West Ageas Life Insurance Corp (50% + 1 share)
Vietnam: MB Ageas Life Insurance Co Ltd (32%)
Thailand: Muang Thaï Group Holding Co Ltd (8%)- Thailand: Muang Thaï Holding Co Ltd (21%)
- Thailand: Muang Thaï Insurance Public Co Ltd (15%)
- Thailand: Muang Thaï Life Assurance Public Co Ltd (31%)
- Thailand: Fuchsia Venture Capital Co Ltd (31%)
China: Taiping Asset Management Co Ltd (20%)- China: Taiping Life Insurance Co Ltd (25%)
- China: Taiping Financial Services Co Ltd (12%)
- China: Taiping Reinsurance Co Ltd (HK) (25%)
India: Ageas Federal Life Insurance Co Ltd (74%)- India: Royal Sundaram General Insurance (40%)
References
edit- ^abc"Ageas Full Year Results 2023"(PDF).ageas.com.
- ^main page
- ^"History". Fortis Real Estate. Archived fromthe original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved9 May 2010.
- ^abc"History > Precursors". Ageas. Archived fromthe original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved9 May 2010.
- ^"Fortune Global 500 2007: Fortis".Fortune.CNN Money. 2007.Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved29 September 2008.
- ^ab"Deal agreed for Euro bank Fortis".BBC News Online. 29 September 2008. Retrieved9 May 2010.
- ^abBlenkinsop, Philip (10 March 2010)."Fortis returns to profit in 2009, unveils new name".Reuters. Retrieved27 March 2010.
- ^Richman, Jonathan E (14 July 2018)."Dutch Court Approves Collective Settlement of Fortis Shareholders' Claims".The National Law Review. Proskauer Rose LLP. Retrieved7 September 2018.
- ^Easton, Jonathan (15 April 2024)."BNP Paribas to acquire 9% stake in Belgian insurer Ageas".FStech. Retrieved15 April 2024.
- ^"Ageas Tops Belgium's Blue-Chip Index After BNP Paribas Raises Stake". 19 February 2025.
- ^"Ageas to buy UK insurance platform esure for $1.7 billion".Reuters. 14 April 2025.
- ^ab"Legal Structure"(PDF). Ageas. 30 April 2010. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 24 May 2010. Retrieved9 May 2010.
- ^"General Meeting of Shareholders, 28 and 29 April 2010: Speech of Bart De Smet, CEO"(PDF). Fortis Holding. 29 April 2010. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved18 October 2010.
- ^Dey, Iain (28 September 2008)."B&B and Fortis both in crisis".The Times. Archived fromthe original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved9 May 2010.
- ^"Legal Structure". Royal Park Investments. Retrieved9 May 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^Blenkinsop, Philip (8 May 2009)."BUY OR SELL-Fortis emerges from legal, shareholder battles".Reuters. Archived fromthe original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved9 May 2010.
- ^"FCA".FCA. Retrieved7 May 2015.
- ^"Biba 2014: Ageas to overhaul retail division".Insurance Times. Retrieved7 May 2015.(subscription required)
- ^"RIAS founders target £50m GWP with new home insurance broker".Insurance Times. Insurance Times. Retrieved7 May 2015.(subscription required)
- ^"Fortis begins name change to Ageas".Insurance Age. 4 October 2010. Retrieved7 May 2015.(subscription required)
- ^The Bourne Local (20 September 2012)."Ageas in £116m Groupama takeover". The Bourne Local.[permanent dead link]
- ^Ageas (27 June 2016)."Ageas confirms completion of acquisition of AXA's insurance operations in Portugal". Archived fromthe original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved27 June 2016.
- ^"Ageas reaches agreement with UK over 50s specialist Saga".Ageas UK. Retrieved16 April 2025.
- ^Capital, Bain."Bain Capital reaches agreement with Ageas to sell esure and establish a top-3 UK personal lines platform | Bain Capital".www.baincapital.com. Retrieved16 April 2025.
- ^Limited., Ageas (UK)."Our locations - Ageas UK".www.ageas.co.uk.