APRIL signs strategic partnership with KKR for its next phase of growth

After refocusing its activities around insurance distribution and carrying out an in-depth transformation of its business model since its acquisition by CVC Capital Partners in 2019, enabling the group to return to a high level of performance, the APRIL Group announces that it has signed a long-term strategic partnership with global investment firm KKR. By teaming up with KKR, APRIL, which is already one of the leading insurance brokers in Europe, is preparing to accelerate its development and digitalization in the markets for borrowers, health and personal protection, niche property and casualty, international health insurance and wealth management in France and internationally.

PARIS and LYON, France, Nov. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With a turnover of €544 million in 2021, double-digit growth dynamics for 2022 and a nearly 20-point rise in its NPS, the APRIL Group has completed its transformation, achieving its objectives more than a year in advance. Building on this upward trajectory and its position as the French leader in wholesale insurance, the group has decided to take its ambitions to the next level and secure the means to become a key player at an international level.

To support this new stage of growth, the APRIL Group will now be supported by KKR, which, as a majority shareholder, will bring its global expertise in insurance and financial services.
The transaction will be subject to the usual legal and regulatory approvals.

"The APRIL Group was created 35 years ago by a visionary entrepreneur. After a great collaboration with CVC Capital Partners, April recovered its original strength. Our aim is to continue the history of this great company and to make it a French champion on a global scale. This next chapter will be enabled by the management team, our 2,300 employees, and KKR, for the benefit of our partners and policyholders," states Eric Maumy, President & CEO of APRIL Group.

Over the past 3 years, the APRIL Group has reinvented itself:

• Organic growth of +8% in 2021 thanks to substantial work on products in France and worldwide across all its markets - loan insurance, health / personal protection, casualty niche insurance, international medical insurance - and entering a new market, property insurance, through the acquisition of Magnacarta;
• Improvement in customer experience, as recognised by 24-point NPS;
• Returned to its position as an industry leader, with all actors mobilised around the liberalisation of the loan insurance market;
• Strengthened digital and technological capabilities, with the creation of the dedicated APRIL X hub and the acquisition of ELOA and Comparadise;
• 800 employees recruited in 3 years;
• International expansion, with offices opened in Germany and Dubai.

About APRIL
APRIL is the leading wholesale broker in France, with a network of 15,000 partner brokers. The group's 2,300 staff members aim to offer their customers and partners – individuals, professionals and companies – an outstanding experience, combining the best of human relationships and technology, for health and personal protection for individuals, professionals and VSEs; loan insurance; international health insurance; property and casualty niche insurance; and asset management. By 2023, APRIL aspires to become an agile, omnichannel, digital operator, a champion of customer experience and a leader in its markets, while committing to the social responsibility goals in its Oxygen programme. The APRIL Group operates in 17 countries and recorded turnover of €544m in 2021.

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Press contacts
APRIL
Mélanie Sutter
melanie.sutter@april.com 

Agence Monet+Associés agency for the APRIL group
Laureen Arnol – Lison Douvegheant - Alice Perrin
april@monet-rp.com