RSA firms up position in Irish market with acquisition of AonInsure.ie

Insurer RSA has strengthened its position in the Irish market by acquiring the general insurance business of rival AonInsure.ie for an undisclosed sum.

RSA intends to merge this into its 123.ie business unit, which it acquired for €65 million in 2010.

RSA is acquiring 66,000 policies from Aon in a deal that it hopes will help it build on its existing 16 per cent market share here. These are primarily motor and home insurance customers.

Aon staff were informed of the deal yesterday. About 80 employees are affected by the deal.

The company plans to undertake a consultation process with these employees. It is understood that most of these will transfer to RSA with some remaining with Aon, which will continue to write other business in the Irish market.

No redundancies are expected as part of the deal.

Commercial activities
Following this deal, Aon is expected to focus on growing and developing its commercial and risk management insurance activities here. Aon has 650 staff in offices in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Mullingar and Belfast.

In a statement about the transaction yesterday, Philip Smith, chief executive of RSA Insurance Ireland Ltd said: "This acquisition will further expand our footprint across the market and bring added momentum to our profitable growth intent."

RSA Insurance Ireland Ltd has undertaken a number of significant transactions here since 2007.

Earlier this year, it assumed RSA Group’s Northern Ireland operation under a new all-Ireland structure. It acquired 123.ie three years ago and has more than doubled its customer base to the current level of 350,000.

Staff numbers at this online business have risen to 270 from 140 over the same period while its net premium income has almost doubled to €100 million a year.

It has also acquired Benchmark Underwriting Ltd, Sertus Underwriting and Europa General Insurance, received a €100 million injection of capital from its parent company, and moved to new a headquarters beside the Dundrum Towncentre.