Insurance background: Sovcombank intends to acquire Capital Life company
Sovcombank is negotiating the acquisition of Capital Life, one of the largest players in the life insurance market, Izvestia has learned. The asset is now owned by Capital Invest, which is controlled by former beneficiary of the Rosgosstrakh Pension Fund Alkhas Sangulia and CSKA President Evgeny Giner. The deal is at an "advanced level", the asset is estimated at 30-40 billion rubles, one of the sources said. The purchase will allow the credit institution to strengthen its presence in the life insurance market, a promising and fast—growing segment, whose total fees in 2024 reached a record high in the entire history of observations — 1.9 trillion rubles, the Central Bank estimated.
Buying an insurance company
Sovcombank intends to acquire Capital Life, one of the leaders in the insurance market. This was reported to Izvestia by three sources — two close to both companies, and one in a large Russian bank. The deal is at an "advanced level," and the assets are being studied, one of the interlocutors said. Its amount is estimated at "about one capital" of the insurance company, a source close to one of the parties to the negotiations knows. The value of the asset is 30-40 billion rubles, said another interlocutor of Izvestia.
Representatives of Sovcombank and Capital life declined to comment. Sergey Khotimsky, co-owner of the financial organization, and Evgeny Gurevich, CEO of the insurance company, did not respond to Izvestia's questions.
In May of this year, the bank announced a two-stage dividend payment for 2024. At the first stage, the supervisory Board of the credit institution recommended that shareholders allocate 0.35 rubles per share, or 10% of net profit, for payment. The next stage of the payment was planned to be held in the second half of 2025, while the exact date and amount of the payment were promised to be presented to investors after determining plans, including for a potential M&A (mergers and acquisitions) transaction, as well as other factors affecting the bank's capital.
What is known about the companies
Capital Life is one of the main players in the Russian life insurance market. According to the company's own data, it has the largest authorized capital — 4.1 billion rubles. The organization was established in 2004 under the name Rosgosstrakh-Life, and in 2018 it was rebranded to Capital Life Life Insurance. According to SPARK-Interfax, the insurer belongs to Life Invest LLC (90.1%). The ultimate beneficiary is Alkhas Sangulia, whom the media call a close friend of businessman Danil Khachaturov, ex-president of Rosgosstrakh. The remaining 9.9% is owned by Soyuz, which is owned by Evgeny Giner, president of PFC CSKA.
Among the main activities of the company are accumulative life insurance, personal, life and health insurance programs, as well as pension programs for individuals and corporate clients. In January – June 2025, it collected 12.7 billion rubles in insurance premiums, according to the Central Bank.
Sovcombank is one of the largest Russian commercial credit organizations, it is included in the list of systemically important ones, and the Central Bank has been established. As of June 30, it ranks eighth in terms of assets (3.9 trillion rubles), according to Interfax Central Asia. In December 2023, he conducted an initial public offering on the Moscow Stock Exchange (IPO).
As of March 31, 2025, the share of MKAO Sovco Capital Partners in the joint—stock company is 71.6%, 14.5% of shares not in free circulation, 13.5% of shares in free circulation, and 0.3% of its own repurchased shares, according to data from the credit institution's website. The main beneficiaries, according to 2019 data, are Dmitry Khotimsky (26.14%), Alexey Fisun (18.55%), Mikhail Klyukin (12.7%), Sergey Khotimsky (9.62%), Mikhail Kuchment (7.64%), Dmitry Gusev (6.97%). By the end of 2024, the bank's revenue under IFRS amounted to 722 billion rubles, twice as much as a year earlier, and net profit decreased by 19% to 76 billion rubles. Assets increased by 27% year-on-year, to 4 trillion rubles, capital increased by almost a third, to 390 billion rubles.
The Bank is strengthening its presence in the insurance market
The systemically important bank has been the most prominent player in the mergers and acquisitions market in the insurance industry for several years, said Alexey Yanin, Managing Director for Ratings of insurance and Investment companies at Expert RA Agency.
In January 2020, the bank acquired Liberty Insurance, the Russian subsidiary of American Liberty Mutual. Later, it was rebranded to Sovcombank Insurance. In December 2020— he bought the MetLife subsidiary (renamed Sovcombank Life) from one of the world's largest insurance companies, MetLife, Inc.
In 2021, an agreement was signed with the German Talanx AG group and its division HDI International AG to purchase SiV Life LLC, specializing in life insurance. And in the middle of 2023, a deal was made to purchase the Inlife Group (formerly Uralsib Insurance) and the associated Inlife Life Insurance. In 2024, the bank planned to acquire Absolut Insurance, Interfax reported, citing sources. The value of the transaction was estimated at about 10 billion rubles, its status is currently unknown.
Capital Life is a notable market participant, Alexey Yanin points out. According to him, this transaction may allow the bank to acquire a well-established customer base, an extensive agency network, assets of insurance reserves and the company's own funds, and strengthen its position in this area. According to its own data, the insurer has the largest agency network on the market (more than 7.5 thousand people) with a presence in 70 cities of Russia.
Sovcombank is striving to occupy a niche among the largest universal financial groups and compete with such giants as Sberbank, VTB and Ingosstrakh, whose insurance has long been integrated into their own ecosystems, a source in a large Russian credit institution believes. The strengthening in the market is due to the desire to gain a foothold among the key players, diversify the business and increase the capitalization of the group in the long term, he added.
According to the results of 2024, the volume of the insurance market amounted to 3.7 trillion rubles of insurance premium, which is 62.8% more than in 2023, according to the Central Bank. The growth is due to a significant increase in short-term products against the background of an ultra-high key interest rate, said Alexey Yanin. Last year, total fees in the segment of non—credit life insurance (ILI and NSG) increased 3.5 times year-on-year, to 1.9 trillion rubles, a record value in the entire history of observations, the Central Bank points out.
Despite the uncertainty of the macroeconomic and geopolitical situations, the insurance industry in the Russian economy is developing at a faster pace than other industries, Ainaz Khairullina, Senior Director of Financial Institutions Ratings at the NRA rating service, estimates. According to her, as of June 30, the annual increase in insurance premiums was 36.6%.
By the end of 2025, the industry's assets may exceed 7 trillion rubles, and insurance premiums may exceed the record mark of 2024 and approach 4-5 trillion rubles, she predicts.
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