After receiving full approval from regulators, an insurer has announced the successful sale of its European operations, which closed yesterday.

Echelon Financial Holdings entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement to sell its European insurance subsidiary back in Aug. 4, 2016. On Feb. 28, 2017, the deal was granted regulatory approval from the Danish Financial Services Authority.

According to a release, Echelon will retain no residual insurance risk from the sale.

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Echelon will receive (based on current rates) approximately $5.1m on closing and an additional $17.2m before Dec. 31, 2017.

“I would like to recognize and thank the employees and management in Europe for their effort and commitment over the last five years,” Echelon CEO Serge Lavoie said in a statement. “They have built a solid base and launching pad for the new Danish-based shareholder to invest strategically in the business.”

The company sold off its European operations in an attempt to refocus its efforts on Canada.

“The completion of this transaction is an important milestone in the transformation of our company,” Lavoie said in an earlier statement. “It will allow us to focus our time and resources on executing our Canadian strategy.”


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