Mexican Regulator Approves Grupo Sura’s Purchase of Local RSA Subsidiary

Mexico’s insurance regulator has approved Grupo Sura’s 2015 purchase of the local arm of RSA Insurance Group. Last year, Sura paid at least $620 million for the all of the UK-based RSA’s operations in Latin America, and approval from Mexico’s National Commission of Insurance and Finance was one of the last hurdles before finalization. As of May 26, the company was only awaiting approval in Uruguay, but the sale is now official in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.

David Bojanini, CEO of Grupo Sura

With an expanded footprint throughout the region, the Medellín-based Sura (Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana) is now free to start growing the business further. “Suramericana is now establishing itself in the bulk of the countries where it acquired the former RSA operations, which is allowing us to move forward with consolidating our portfolio,” said Grupo Sura CEO David Bojanini. “We continue to maintain a positive outlook for the rest of 2016.”

RSA had been in the market to spin off its LatAm sector for some time, per the Financial Times, with the September 2015 sale allowing the insurer to focus on its operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Canada.

In addition to nearly finalizing its RSA acquisition, Grupo Sura — a multinational holding company, primarily operating in investment banking, asset management, and insurance services — is coming off a big first quarter.

Its assets reached $19.1 billion USD while net income hit $168.8 million USD, a 53.6% increase from the first quarter of 2015, according to Sura filings. The company’s retained insurance premiums also increased by 26% in the quarter while commissions jumped 16.2%.