BB Looks to Spin off Insurance Arm

Banco do Brasil is planning to put its insurance operations into a new company that may IPO next year, it says. The state-controlled bank is seeking to consolidate its insurance businesses into a single company, BB Seguridade, to lower costs, increase scale and be better prepared for possible expansion. BB Seguridade would control Banco do Brasil’s two insurance joint ventures with Madrid-based Mapfre, and the bank plans to also expand into dental and health insurance brokerages. The listed company would directly control two holdcos, one responsible for insurance brokerage activities and the other for all other insurance operations. It does not give any additional details about the possible IPO, other than that the sale would include both primary and secondary shares. Banco do Brasil is Brazil’s largest bank, and its insurance operation number two behind Bradesco’s.