NMa: Green Light for Joint Venture Achmea and Rabobank

The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has given the green light to the merger of the activities of Interpolis (part of Rabobank) and Achmea. Rabobank and Vereniging Achmea will be the parent companies of the joint venture.

The joint venture will be active on the market for banking services, insurance, pension administration services, health, welfare and safety services, and reintegration services. Following an investigation, NMa has concluded that there is no reason to assume that competition on these markets will be appreciably restricted. Sufficient freedom of choice will remain for companies and consumers.

The merged undertaking will acquire a relatively strong position on both the non-life insurance market and the life insurance market. After the merger, various other strong non-life and life insurers will remain active and will ensure sufficient competition. In the area of non-life insurance for the agricultural sector, the undertaking will acquire a strong position, but there are sufficient other strong players active which can exert competitive pressure.

The fact that Rabobank's banking activities will be linked to the insurance activities of the merged undertaking will not result in the emergence or strengthening of a dominant position.