BPCE Assurances, a subsidiary of French bank BPCE, signed memorandum of understanding for holding exclusive talks with Apax Partners for acquiring GamaLife, a life insurance provider that is active in Portugal and Italy and for which Matteo Castelvetri acts as ceo. The closing may take place in 1H27 subject to final agreements, trade union consultations and regulatory approvals (BPCE statement and GamaLife press release).
Nomura (financial advisor) and A&O Shearman (legal) are assisting Apax which aims to fetch 600 million, Bloomberg reported in September 2025 and Reuters said later.
The French group is pursuing this acquisition with a clear business rationale. The firm previously purchased novobanco, Portugal’s fourth-largest bank, which already distributes GamaLife products through a long-term bancassurance agreement. The acquisition would therefore bring the insurance provider and one of its main distribution networks under the same ownership, following their separation in 2019 with the sale to Apax.
BPCE stated that the transaction’s impact on its CET1 capital ratio is expected to be marginal.
In 2025, GamaLife raised 475 million euros of gross prizes, aum amounted to 7.5 billion. The company has 0.5 million clients and 100 workers in Lisbon and Milan.
L’Agefi reported that 75% of revenues (356 million) comes from Portugal while Italian clients contribute for 119 million. In Portugal, the company is the eighth-largest life insurer by premiums, with a market share of 4%.
The deal would mark BPCE Assurances’ first international acquisition and represent a further step in the European expansion of the French group’s bancassurance model.
As BeBeez previously reported, in 2025 Apax hired Nomura and UBS for exploring options for GamaLife which attracted the interest of Milan-listed Generali, CVC, Blackstone, Brookfield, BFF Bank, and BPCE.
Apax acquired GamaLife (fka GNB Vida) in 2019 from novobanco with the aim of establishing a European consolidation platform in the life and savings sector.
In 2022, GamaLife purchased from Zurich Investments Life the Italian life insurance policies and pension products unit for 128 million euros (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The transaction closed on 1 December 2022 and involved staff, systems, contracts and an insurance portfolio with technical provisions of 7 billion as of 31 December 2021 (press release).
Meanwhile, the company developed an Italian distribution network through brokers and banking partners. In October 2025, GamaLife acquired a 10% stake in Banca Macerata, a bank based in the Marche region of which Cherry Bank has a 9.6%. The investment also involved a long-term partnership agreement for the distribution of life and pension products (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
Any acquisition by BPCE would therefore also result in GamaLife’s Italian operations, including its stake in the Marche-based bank, coming under French control, unless there are changes to the scope of the transaction prior to closing.
The investment forms part of BPCE’s Vision 2030 strategic plan, which aims to expand the European operations of the bank and its insurance subsidiary.
The French group closed the first nine months of 2026 with net banking income of 20.9 billion and net profit of 3.8 billion, up 10% and 28% respectively on the same period in 2025. The CET1 ratio stood at 15.5% at the end of September (press release).
