LIBERTY MUTUAL TO SELL POLISH PROPERTY/CASUALTY BUSINESS TO AXA

US property/casualty insurer Liberty Mutual Insurance Group has agreed to sell its Polish operation, Liberty Ubezpieczenia, to Axa for PLN 92.3m ($23m), plus the business’s net asset value outstanding at closing. The deal is expected to close before the end of the third quarter. Liberty Ubezpieczenia posted 2014 gross written premiums of PLN315m on sales of property/casualty products through agencies, direct sales and car dealers. Axa said that the acquisition will boost its share of the Polish property/casualty market to 4.4% from the current 3.2% as well as diversify both its product portfolio and distribution channels. The deal comes nine month’s after Axa acquired BRE Ubezpieczenia, the property/casualty unit of Poland’s mBank, and entered into a 10-year bancassurance agreement with the bank.