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Allianz Direct , a digital - first German subsidiary of the insurance giant , has acquired the French home insurance policy concern of ailing insurtech Luko for € 4.3 million ( around $ 4.65 million ) .
This was both look and unexpected : The two company were hoping to get thegreen light on a dealin November . But that did n’t hap , and Luko ’s parent ship’s company or else go under judicial reorganization , a operation that meant it needed to urgently find a buyer whose offering would meet the court ’s requirements .
Non - unicorn insurtech Luko urgently needs a buyer , but will it be Allianz ?
For a while , many options were back on the tabular array , including not - so - majuscule ones — until this week .
A happy closing of sort ? Not quite . After all , Luko had ambition to become a European insurtech unicorn on its own , and maybe it ’s now paying the toll for it . But there ’s also relief for some in know that the company wo n’t besold for partsafter all — and the business unit that will live on is arguably what it should have stick to all along .
Yo-yo pricing
Luko was mostly known for offeringdigital dwelling house insurance in France , withsome 230,000 policy sold . Along the way , things became more complicated and debt mount as it dilate in other mart and made acquisition : German startup Coyaand fellow French startupUnkle , both in 2022 .
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That diversification is now in the past tense : European digital insurtech startup Getsafeacquired Luko ’s German portfolio , which was mostly Coya ’s . Meanwhile in France , policy players Solly Azar and Sada Assurances partner to take over the unpaid rent insurance portfolio that Luko had acquire from Unkle .
What ’s left of Luko today is its core , and that ’s what Allianz is interested in . For the German incumbent insurer , the deal should help boost its latestDTC pushinto France , led by Allianz Direct local CEO Fanny Limare - Wolf .
“ This accomplishment not only strengthens our front in the Gallic direct insurance market and allow us to expand our customer base under the ‘ Luko ’ make , but will ultimately help us to place ourselves as a leader in the French on-line insurance grocery , ” Allianz Direct CEO Philipp Kroetzwroteon LinkedIn .
On Luko ’s side , stakes were arguably high . The acquirement place an end to the roller - coaster ride that the startup and its stakeholders have been on since June . At the fourth dimension , Demain ES , the holding behind Luko , entered quicken safeguard proceedings to buy clip to face its € 45 million debt as a Series C round of support became out of ambit .
Since then , the fate of the party went through more ups and downs , with equally variable price tags . None of these came close to the€72 millionthat Luko had arouse since its creation in 2018 , but they still made for wildly different paths .
When Luko agreed to beacquired by Admiral Groupshortly after seek help , it was supposed to be for a sum of € 14 million .
After the British insurance grouping indorse down in October , things became more blurry : Was Allianz ’s subsequent offer worth € 14 million , too , or € 8 million , as the court viewed it ? Either way , it soon became unacceptable to tell apart who would grease one’s palms Luko , or for how much ; rumor had it that unexampled offer had fall tosingle digits .
Court document witness by TechCrunch+ support that Luko received several offers , some of which were very modified in their pricing and largeness . Unlike suitorsLakaandLovys , Gallic insurtechsLeocareandMagnoliamade worldwide offers . But there was arguably more to care about Allianz Direct ’s marriage proposal , at least in its terminal sort — and not just because it is the only one that belong through the last step of the proceedings .
The best suitor?
To quote German governor BaFin , which commit the deal its approving in principle , it is “ a good resolution that is in the best interests of policyholder . ”
Its price tag was also the high , and that ’s not a detail . As Gallic bank BNP Paribas noted in an observation to the court , many creditor will still be leave volunteer . Our agreement is that besides investor , those who wo n’t get all of their money back include BNP itself , but also venture lender TriplePoint and Unkle ’s shareholders .
The failure evaluator note that Allianz Direct ’s offering would n’t make creditor whole , but it had the very crucial virtue of enabling business to carry on and job to be maintained . Indeed , Allianz Direct will take over all 112 staffers from the entities cover by the deal , Demain ES and Luko Cover . And that ’s not all .
Addressing the Luko teamon LinkedIn , Limare - Wolf tell them that they “ will be key to the further development of [ Allianz Direct ’s ] business organisation in France . ”
How fast prison term flies : Mere months ago , the insurance administrator was go Admiral ’s French underling , L’Olivier , a digital - first car insurance specialist whose offering Luko would have complemented had the M&A gone through . Instead , she and Luko will now process toward helping Allianz expand its digital - first offering into France , Allianz Direct ’s fifth market .
While Luko ’s Centennial State - founder , Benoît BourdelandRaphaël Vullierme , also expressed happiness about the passel on LinkedIn , they might not be in for a smooth drive . After all , Allianz is also an incumbent , and its general agents are reportedlynot too happyat the scene of competing with underpriced insurance . But at least it is not the end of the road for Luko , even if it wo n’t ever be a unicorn .
