Brussels, 12/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Combined Insurance Company of America (CICA) by ACE Limited (Cayman Islands) on Tuesday 11 March.
ACE is a global holding company active on the insurance and reinsurance markets. In Europe it offers a broad range of non-life insurance products. CICA provides life insurance, accident and health insurance products, primarily to individuals, in the USA, EU, Canada and the Asia-Pacific region. The Commission investigation concluded that horizontal overlaps between ACE and CICA's activities would be minimal, with the exception of the underwriting of insurance product in Ireland, where the merged entity would increase its market share on the individual accident and health insurance sub-segment. The Commission's analysis showed, however, that the increased market share would not raise competition concerns within the European Economic Area as the new entity would continue to face strong competition. (O.L.)