date of creation
1986
number of employees
32,000 employees: 25,000 in France, 7,000 abroad
Groupama is a French insurance group with its headquarters in Paris. It provides insurance, financial, and mutual assurance services. The group currently operates in 12 countries.
History
Although the current company was only founded in 1986, its origins lie in the 19th century when a group of French farmers felt that their particular insurance needs were not being met so formed a mutual organisation to meet those needs. Although its primary focus was on insurance – particularly fire insurance – for the agricultural community, they also catered to other professions, businesses, and members of the public.
Its foundation in 1986 came about from the merger of several existing institutions:
- Samda. Formed in 1963. This company offered insurance for non-agricultural damage.
- SORAVIE (Society of Agricultural Organizations Life Insurance), a company formed in partnership with Credit Agricole, the world’s largest cooperative financial institution.
- SOS-AMA. Created in 1975, they offered general insurance and assistance services.
These organisations merged in 1986 and have since grown to be the conglomerate we know today. Major milestones since 1986 have included:
- 1992 – creating the B.CERP bank which then took the name of Groupama Financial Bank.
- 1998 – the acquisition of GAN (then Frances’s 4th largest insurance company) which made Groupama the country’s second largest insurer.
- 2009 – the acquisition of Banque Finama which they merged with Groupama Financial Bank.
- 2011/2012 – having to sell a number of its subsidiary companies after experiencing financial difficulties.
Since 2012, they have consolidated their various business interests and are now financially stable. In 2018, they recorded income of €14.3 billion (of which €11.6 billion came from France, had a net income of €450 million, a solvency ratio of 297%, and a total balance sheet of €96.8 billion.
