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 sudden: The 2 firms have been hoping to get the inexperienced mild 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 supply would meet the courtroom’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 spite of everything, Luko had ambitions to turn out to be a European insurtech unicorn by itself, and perhaps it’s now paying the value for it. However there’s additionally reduction for some in understanding that the corporate received’t be bought for components in spite of everything — and the enterprise unit that may stay on is arguably what it ought to have caught to all alongside.
Yo-yo pricing
Luko was largely recognized for providing digital dwelling insurance coverage in France, with some 230,000 insurance policies bought. Alongside the best way, issues turned extra difficult and debt mounted because it expanded in different markets and made acquisitions: German startup Coya and fellow French startup Unkle, each in 2022.
