In July 1998, the French Government announced that the publicly-owned GAN insurance group is to be sold off to the mutual insurance concern, Groupama. The trade unions, for the most part, were satisfied with the decision in favour of what they saw as the "best bidder" in social and employment terms.
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In July 1998, the French Government announced that the publicly-owned GAN insurance group is to be sold off to the mutual insurance concern, Groupama. The trade unions, for the most part, were satisfied with the decision in favour of what they saw as the "best bidder" in social and employment terms.
The Socialist Government which came to power in June 1998 decided to continue the process of privatisation of the GAN-CIC insurance and finance group, which had previously been unsuccessfully undertaken by the conservative Government of Alain Juppé (FR9709167N). In April 1998, the Government announced its decision to sell off CIC (FR9804104N) and on 1 July 1998, it chose Groupama- an organisation with a background in mutual insurance in the agricultural sector and the only French contender in the competition - to acquire 87.1% of GAN SA's capital, over the Swiss-owned group Swiss Life. Although, in the opinion of the Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry, Dominique Stauss-Kahn, both contenders had tabled "high-quality" industrial plans, the offer from Groupama, was "overall more advantageous to the public sector". It was not simply the financial considerations that led the French mutual insurance group to be selected over Swiss Life, but also the quality of its social and employment commitments.
From a financial point of view, both groups had made very close offers: FRF 17.25 billion from Groupama and FRF 17.426 billion from Swiss Life. The gap between the two was slight, all the more so given that the French group requested a smaller guarantee to cover the insurer's risks: FRF 2.9 billion compared with FRF 7 billion for Swiss Life. However, it was from a social point of view that Groupama stood out. From the outset, it had demonstrated its determination to implement "a policy for development that would create jobs" whereas the Swiss Life approach appeared to be more financially-oriented. In addition, the fact that Groupama was French was apparently an advantage. In effect, following the acquisition of a controlling interest in AGF by the German company Allianz (FR9806118N), the linking of GAN and Groupama has the advantage of making the latter the second largest French general insurer.
Overall, reaction to the Government's choice of Groupama as the buyer for GAN has been mainly positive. Among trade unions, the CFDT- the majority union at GAN - the CGT-FO and the CFTC endorsed the French group, but they stressed that this did not however, "translate as full and complete support for Groupama's project" (CFDT). In the opinion of the CFTC, "GAN had more chance of preserving its independence with Groupama as it would not have to report to headquarters outside France." The CGT, which was opposed, on principle, to the privatisation of GAN, nevertheless considered that Groupama presented "less of a risk" for GAN than Swiss Life. Only the CFE-CGC remained neutral.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), GAN acquired by Groupama, article.
