Allianz Direct, a digital-first German subsidiary of the insurance coverage big, has acquired the French dwelling insurance coverage enterprise of ailing insurtech Luko for €4.3 million (round $4.65 million).
This was each anticipated and surprising: The 2 corporations have been hoping to get the green light on a deal in November. However that didn’t occur, and Luko’s father or mother firm as a substitute went beneath judicial reorganization, a process that meant it wanted to urgently discover a purchaser whose provide would meet the court docket’s necessities.
For some time, many choices have been again on the desk, together with not-so-great ones — till this week.
A cheerful ending of types? Not fairly. In any case, Luko ambitioned to grow to be a European insurtech unicorn by itself, and perhaps it’s now paying the worth for it. However there’s additionally aid for some in figuring out that the corporate received’t be sold for parts in spite of everything — and the enterprise unit that can reside on is arguably what it ought to have caught to all alongside.
Yo-yo pricing
Luko was largely recognized for providing digital home insurance in France, with some 230,000 policies sold. Alongside the best way, issues grew to become extra sophisticated and debt mounted because it expanded in different markets and made acquisitions: German startup Coya and fellow French startup Unkle, each in 2022.
