Atradius
 | |
| Company type | Trade credit insurer |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | 1925 Nederlandsche Credietverzekering Maatschappij (NCM), 1954 Gerling-Konzern Speziale Kreditversicherung (GKS) |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam , Netherlands |
Area served | Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Oceania, South America |
Key people | Isidoro Unda, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (2008) |
| Products | Export Credit Insurance, Bonding, Instalment Credit Protection (ICP), Reinsurance Business, Collections |
| Revenue | € 1,554 million (2011) |
| Owner | Crédito y Caución (64.23%), Grupo Catalana Occidente (35.77%) (2012) |
Number of employees | 3,300 FTEs |
| Divisions | Atradius Collections Holding B.V. (NL), Atradius Credit Insurance Agency, Inc (USA), Atradius Insurance Holding N.V. (NL), Atradius Finance B.V. (NL), Atradius Participations Holding B.V. (NL) |
| Website | www.atradius.com |
Atradius is a trade credit insurer. The company, rated ‘A’ (excellent) outlook stable by AM Best (September 2012)and 'A3' by Moody's (October 2012) had a turnover of approximately €1.6 billion in 2011.
Atradius insures an estimated €465 billion of trade around the globe each year. Atradius holds information on over 100 million businesses used to make over 20,000 credit limit decisions each day.
History
Trade credit insurance was created after World War I by various governments and private insurers as a means of economic stimulus.
The core of Atradius came from the 2001 acquisition of Dutch insurer Nederlandsche Credietverzekering Maatschappij (NCM), founded in 1925 and by German insurer Gerling-Konzern Speziale Kreditversicherung (Gerling Credit), founded in 1954.
NCM was created with the goal of improving trade for companies in the Netherlands. From 1932 on NCM became the arm of the Dutch government through which it provides export credit services to Dutch companies. Atradius carries this function still on.
In Germany, Atradius' roots stem from Gerling Credit, which was established in 1954 as the credit insurance arm of the Gerling-Konzern insurance group of Cologne. In 1962 Gerling Credit opened its first international branch office in Switzerland. Gerling Credit was the first private credit insurer to offer export credit protection.
Each had made their own acquisitions prior to this including government ECAs (e.g. 1991, the UK’s ECGD) and private insurers (e.g. 1994 Namur Assurances du Crédit S.A., Belgium) who themselves dated back to the birth of trade credit insurance around 1919. The Atradius group today is the amalgamation of a number of international trade credit insurers and affiliated organisations from Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, UK and USA.
The now highly international group was spun off by Gerling-Konzern when it faced difficulties and in 2004 was rebranded as Atradius. This new name was created to reflect support for trade around the radius of the globe. In 2008 the group was further augmented with the addition of Spanish insurer Crédito y Caución and subsequently brought additional footholds in the Spanish speaking world.
Today, though largely Spanish owned, the business is headquartered in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.[1]
Products
Today, Atradius has 3,300 staff based in 45 countries and providing products and services to businesses to assist them in managing trade credit risks, particularly those involved in trading with new partners or in new territories. These include Trade Credit Insurance, Bonding, Instalment Credit Protection, Reinsurance Business, Collections and Business Information Services.
Shareholders
Grupo Compañía Espanõla de Crédito y Caución, S.L. (Grupo CyC) is a holding company majority owned,73.84%,by Grupo Catalana Occidente.
Grupo Catalana Occidente S.A. (CO) is, either directly or indirectly, the parent company of a group of insurance companies. GCO is listed on the Barcelona and Madrid stock exchanges. Grupo Catalana Occidente has an economic stake in Atradius N.V. of 83.20%, of which 35.77% is directly owned and 47.43% is owned indirectly through Grupo CyC holding company. GCO holds a controlling stake of Atradius of 100%.
Management
The Executive Board, a distinct entity from the Board of Directors, includes:
- Isidoro Unda, Chairman & CEO, CFO
- Chris van Lint, CRO
- Andreas Tesch, Chief Market Officer As CMO he is responsible for Atradius Credit Insurance worldwide (excluding Spain, Portugal, and Brazil), and for the units Dutch State Business, Global, Special Products, and Group Communication & Commercial Development.
- Claus Gramlich-Eicher, Chief Finance Officer As CFO he is responsible for Finance, Financial Control, and Corporate Finance.
Awards
- Best Credit Insurance Brand in Europe 2013 awarded by GLOBAL BRANDS MAGAZINE