France’s AXA to sell Gulf operations to GIG for $269 million

AXA, Europe’s second biggest insurer, announced on Monday it has agreed to sell its insurance operations in the Gulf region to Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) for $269 million.

“This transaction marks another step in AXA’s continued simplification journey,” AXA chief executive Thomas Buberl said in a statement.

According to a statement, the company said it expects to close the deal by the third quarter of 2021.

In February, AXA agreed with Austrian insurer Uniqa to sell its operations in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia for €1 billion ($1.20 billion).

The French insurer is exiting markets where it lacks scale as part of a deep restructuring to cope with a negative interest rate environment.