Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) has sold its 21% stake in Bâloise for SFr1.72bn (£711.8m). The move is part of the company's divestment programme to focus on core business and to reduce debt levels.
The sale takes ZFS's announced divestitures past $5bn (£3.4bn), exceeding its divestiture target of $4bn (£2.7bn).
Bâloise was sold, through JP Morgan, to The Strategic Money Management Company (SMM), a Dutch investment company managed by ABN Amro. The sale produced a pre-tax capital gain of SFr 196.5m (£81.3m) for ZFS.
ZFS said it would continue to hold shares and options to acquire Bâloise shares amounting to approximately 6% of its outstanding capital.
