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March 05, 2018 at 07:03 PM
One way to upset your shareholders is to do a far bigger deal than what they thought you’d consider. To get them really fired up, you could overpay at the same time. AXA SA’s newish CEO Thomas Buberl has chosen to do both with the $15.3 billion acquisition of U.S. insurance peer XL Group Ltd.
AXA didn’t appear to be seeking major purchases. The market hadn’t been primed to expect any deals much larger than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). By contrast, XL will radically reshape its new owner. The target specializes in property and casualty insurance — fire, theft, and disaster — and it is these lines that will now dominate AXA rather than life insurance and savings.
(Related: AXA Talks More About U.S. Life Spinoff)
True, the deal means more scale and diversification, an advantage in underwriting bigger and more complex risks for corporations. The shift to insurance from savings means AXA’s fortunes won’t be so tied to financial markets. The French company’s cost of capital should, in theory, fall. The deal also finds a use for the proceeds from the planned sale of its U.S. insurance and asset management business.
Still, it’s a lot to take on for a company long out of the habit of large scale M&A. The price offers no mitigation. AXA insists the deal will generate a 10% return, but the specifics aren’t immediately clear. It argues that the terms equate to just 11 times XL’s earnings after adding $400 million of annual synergy benefits. That compares to multiples of about 13 times or more for XL’s U.S. peers based on current year forecasts.
