Helvetia and Baloise shareholders approve merger, paving the way to create a leading European insurer

Media release
St.Gallen / Basel, 23 May 2025
 

• Shareholders of Helvetia and Baloise vote in favour of merger of equals to form Helvetia Baloise Holding Ltd
• All proposals of both Boards of Directors have been approved, reflecting strong support for the transaction
• Thomas von Planta elected future Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helvetia Baloise Holding Ltd together with further announced members, subject to closing of the merger
• Upon closing of the merger, Helvetia Baloise will become the second-largest insurance group in Switzerland and a leading European insurer

Based on a compelling strategic rationale, the shareholders of Helvetia Holding Ltd ("Helvetia") and Baloise Holding Ltd ("Baloise") approved the merger of equals to form "Helvetia Baloise Holding Ltd" ("Helvetia Baloise" or the "Group") at their respective and separate Extraordinary General Meetings today. Thomas von Planta has been elected as future Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helvetia Baloise Holding Ltd together with all proposed further new members. The registered office and headquarters of the Group will be in Basel, while St. Gallen remains an important location. These decisions were made conditional on the closing of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025, subject to customary regulatory and antitrust approvals.

Thomas von Planta, future Chairman of the Board of Directors of the merged company and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Baloise, says: "We appreciate the trust and confidence our shareholders have placed in us today. Building on this solid foundation, we are committed to shaping the future of the Swiss insurance industry. Together we will secure and further expand our attractiveness and competitiveness in both the domestic and European insurance market, thereby creating sustainable, long-term value for all our stakeholders."

Thomas Schmuckli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helvetia, says: "We are pleased that shareholders acknowledge the tremendous potential this merger unlocks. It is now up to us to take account of this trust and successfully realise the goals of the merger. Thanks to its broad range of expertise, our highly motivated management team, led by Group CEO Fabian Rupprecht, will be ideally placed to take the new company forward and achieve the ambitious goals of the merger."

Helvetia Baloise will become the second-largest insurance group in Switzerland and one of the top 10 listed European insurers by market capitalisation with a business volume of CHF 20 billion and locations across eight countries and a global Specialty business. The similar scale, complementary markets, and high synergy potential of the two companies will provide a solid base for sustainable value creation. Strong cultural alignment, rooted in both companies' 160-year histories in Switzerland, supports a smooth integration process.

The detailed voting results of both Extraordinary General Meetings can be found on the respective websites under www.helvetia.com/merger-documents and www.baloise.com/egm.

All information and resources with regards to the merger are available on the respective websites under www.helvetia.com/merger-documents and www.baloise.com/merger.

About the Helvetia Group
Helvetia Insurance Group, with its headquarters in St. Gallen, has grown since 1858 to become a successful international insurance group with strong Swiss roots, over 14,000 employees (FTE) and more than 6.7 million customers. It has always been there for its customers when it matters.
In the Swiss, Spain and GIAM (German, Italian and Austrian Markets) segments, Helvetia positions itself as a Local Customer Champion and supports its customers throughout their lives as their preferred provider. It also focuses on the rapidly growing segment of customers over 50. In all of its segments, and in the Specialty Markets segment in particular, Helvetia strives to generate growth as a global specialist in the international specialty lines business and in reinsurance. Thanks to its lean and flexible structures, Helvetia is able to focus on profitability in a cyclical business. At the same time, Helvetia uses its expertise in its European retail markets to offer specialty solutions to SME customers.
With a business volume of CHF 11.6 billion, Helvetia generated underlying earnings of CHF 528.5 million and an IFRS period result of CHF 502.4 million in the 2024 financial year. The shares of Helvetia Holding AG are traded on SIX Swiss Exchange.

Cautionary note
This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. The German version of this document is decisive and binding. Versions of the document in other languages are made available purely for information purposes. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.
This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates as well as (10), the realisation of economies of scale as well as synergies. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.