Allianz Direct, a digital-first German subsidiary of the insurance coverage big, has acquired the French house insurance coverage enterprise of ailing insurtech Luko for €4.3 million (round $4.65 million).
This was each anticipated and surprising: The 2 firms have been hoping to get the inexperienced gentle on a deal in November. However that didn’t occur, and Luko’s mum or dad firm as a substitute went underneath judicial reorganization, a process that meant it wanted to urgently discover a purchaser whose supply 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 contented ending of kinds? Not fairly. In spite of everything, Luko had ambitions to change into a European insurtech unicorn by itself, and perhaps it’s now paying the value for it. However there’s additionally reduction for some in realizing that the corporate received’t be bought for elements in spite of everything — and the enterprise unit that may dwell on is arguably what it ought to have caught to all alongside.
Yo-yo pricing
Luko was principally recognized for providing digital house insurance coverage in France, with some 230,000 insurance policies bought. Alongside the best way, issues turned 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.
