Storebrand Falls as Gjensidige Combination Talks End

www.storebrand.no

March 26 (Bloomberg) — Storebrand ASA, Norway’s largest publicly traded insurance company, fell the most in more than three weeks in Oslo trading after saying it ended talks on a combination with Gjensidige Forsikring.

Storebrand fell as much as 4.2 kroner, or 17 percent, to 20.55 kroner, the biggest intraday drop since March 3, and was at 21.55 kroner at 10:49 a.m. local time. Gjensidige, Norway’s largest property and casualty insurer, isn’t listed.

“Storebrand and Gjensidige Forsikring have discussed a possible combination of the two companies,” Storebrand said in a statement today distributed by Hugin. “The discussions have been terminated. Due diligence has been conducted on both parties without any significant findings.”

Gjensidige is the largest shareholder in Storebrand, with a 24 percent stake. Storebrand is a “strategic long-term” investment following the sale of Gjensidige’s stake in DnB NOR ASA, Chief Executive Officer Helge Baastad said in an interview on March 3.

Storebrand spokesman Egil Thompson didn’t immediately return a call when contacted by Bloomberg News. “The parties involved have agreed to give no further comments related to the process,” the company said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meera Bhatia in Oslo at mbhatia2@bloomberg.net.

Source: www.bloomberg.com