Transaction with Green Crescent completed after successful AED 100 million bond conversion

Green Crescent Insurance Company officially renamed as AXA Green Crescent Insurance Company

AXA Green Crescent capital raised to AED 200 million

Abu Dhabi - March 15, 2016

AXA, one of the leading international insurers in the region and Kanoo Group, a leading family-owned business in the Gulf region announced today the successful completion of the AED 100 million bond conversion and investment transaction with Green Crescent Insurance Company (GCIC), a leading group health and life insurance company. With this development, GCIC has been officially renamed as 'AXA Green Crescent Insurance Company P.J.S.C.' (AXA Green Crescent), and is now part of AXA.

GCIC had been providing health and life insurance solutions to groups and corporate clients in the UAE since 2008. AXA Group is the holding company for one of the world's largest insurance groups, with approximately 161,000 employees worldwide. With this new investment, AXA will start offering life protection and savings solutions in the UAE.

The life insurance segment in the UAE has been witnessing sustained growth over the past few years amidst a generally challenging economic environment.  "We believe this is an opportune time to launch AXA Green Crescent", said Mishal Kanoo, Chairman of Kanoo Group and Vice Chairman of AXA Green Crescent. "This investment demonstrates the commitment of AXA and Kanoo Group to the UAE market and the Gulf region. AXA Green Crescent will enable us to benefit from an untapped market segment in the UAE and to further diversify our exposure to the fast-growing Gulf Insurance Market", he added.

 "We are thrilled to prepare the launch of a new line of business in the UAE. Our customers will now have a unique opportunity to benefit from AXA's global expertise in developing innovative insurance solutions for life protection and savings which will complement both our own existing Health offering and the Property & Casualty and Health offering of AXA in the Gulf", said Hassen Bennour, Chief Executive Officer AXA Green Crescent. "At AXA, our key priorities focus on offering superior value proposition and experience to our customers and distributors and our ambition is to become a local market leader and benchmark in our industry. We are also convinced that this diversification from GCIC's core Health business will strongly contribute to creating greater value for our shareholders. This is a long-term commitment based on a comprehensive 10-year strategic plan focused on robust and sustainable growth."

The strategic alliance involved an investment of AED 100 million via a convertible bond instrument, pushing GCIC's capital to AED 200 million upon conversion. 100 million shares (each share valued at AED 1) were issued to AXA Group and Kanoo Group, for a total AED 100 million nominal value.

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ABOUT AXA Green Crescent
AXA Green Crescent Insurance Company (AXA Green Crescent) is part of AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, AXA Green Crescent has been created post a strategic alliance between AXA Group, Kanoo Group and Green Crescent Insurance Company (GCIC). GCIC was founded in 2008 as a public joint stock company to provide tailor-made health and life insurance solutions to groups and corporate clients. AXA Green Crescent now aims to offer life protection and savings solutions to customers in the UAE, making AXA in the Gulf a one stop shop for all insurance needs.

ABOUT AXA in the gulf
With a workforce of over 1,000 employees, 40 branches & retail shops region-wide, more than 1 million customers and 2015 gross written premium of over US$ 963 million, AXA is one of the largest international player in the GCC. Present in the region for more than 65 years, AXA in the Gulf offers a wide range of insurance products and services for corporate, SME and individual customers.

The company has been awarded General Insurance Company of the Year for 2nd consecutive year and Health Insurance Company of the Year at the 2015 Middle East Insurance Industry Awards (MIIA), Insurer of the Year and Personal Lines insurer in 2016 at the MENA Insurance Awards and Best Motor Insurance Product by the Banker Middle East in both UAE & KSA. 

As part of AXA's Corporate Responsibility and its commitment to building better understanding about the health risks faced by individuals and the society, the company achieved a new Guinness world record for the most blood cholesterol readings in 8 hours at a single venue.

Website: www.axa-gulf.com

ABOUT THE AXA GROUP
The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 161,000 employees serving 103 million clients in 59 countries. In 2015, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 99.0 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 5.6 billion. AXA had Euro 1,363 billion assets under management as of December 31, 2015.

The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA's American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.

The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.

It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

Website: www.axa.com

For further information, please contact:
Batoul Al Beitouni
Associate                 
GolinMENA
+971 4 332 3308
bbeitouni@golin.ae  

© Press Release 2016