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27/01/2009 - Acquisition of 51% shareholding in Swiss broker SANO CONCEPT

Sales up 21.8% in year ended 31 December 2008
Acquisition of 51% shareholding in Swiss broker SANO CONCEPT

APRIL GROUP recorded consolidated sales of €735.78 million in the year ended 31 December 2008, up by 21.8% on a reported basis and by 14.9% on a pro forma basis.

The Health & Personal Protection division posted a 22.8% increase in sales to €484.13 million, corresponding to an increase of 18.4% on a pro forma basis. The Property & Casualty division recorded an increase of 14.8% to €250.56 million, up 4.4% on a pro forma basis. The Life & Savings division recorded an increase of 2.5% to €17.35 million.

Following on from the seven acquisitions completed in 2008, of which five outside France, APRIL GROUP has just acquired 51% of the capital of SANO CONCEPT, a broker based in Lausanne (Switzerland). Created by Amir ZOGIB in 2000, SANO CONEPT is a broker specialised in the distribution of health insurance contracts for individuals via a network of direct writers (11 points of sale) and independent agents (102). SANO CONCEPT generated sales of €6.3 million in 2007. It employs 100 people in Switzerland and a further 100 at its Tunisian call centre.

For APRIL GROUP, this business combination is an opportunity to enter a very dynamic swiss market possessing one of the highest penetration rates in the world when it comes to insurance cover. The business combination will also enhance the Group's expertise in the marketing of health insurance contracts and provide access to a highly efficient telephone platform that will provide significant synergies for subsidiaries using call centre techniques. In joining APRIL GROUP, SANO CONCEPT is adhering to a truly international federation of entrepreneurs, which will enable it to gear up its development, notably by expanding into the German-speaking regions of Switzerland, where as yet it has only a low-level presence. For SANO CONCEPT, the business combination is also an opportunity to develop its product offer by gaining access to new underwriting capacity.

SANO CONCEPT will be consolidated as from 1 January 2009..

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