The European Commission has this afternoon approved the take-over of the Dutch credit insurance company NCM Holding N.V. by German insurance company Gerling-Konzern Versicherungs-Beteiligungs AG. The Commission's review found competition concerns in the Dutch and Danish credit insurance markets but the divestments proposed by Gerling removed these concerns.
Gerling-Konzern Versicherungs-Beteiligungs AG is an insurance group specialised in services to companies. NCM Holding N.V., the Dutch export-credit agency, is active in the receivable management business, mainly trough credit insurance. The companies' credit insurance activities are almost equal in size and currently constitute the third and fourth largest European credit insurers after the German Allianz Group and the French Coface Group. The merger of Gerling and NCM will create Europe's second largest credit insurance company ahead of Coface.