The activist shareholder Cevian had been reluctant to comment after the announcement of the planned merger of Helvetia with Baloise on Tuesday. However, it is now clear how the Swedish investor assesses its chances of exerting significant influence after the merger.

The sale of the 9.4 percent stake held by Cevian to Patria Genossenschaft was announced before the ordinary Shareholders' Meeting of the Baloise Insurance Group scheduled for today. The latter is also Helvetia's largest shareholder with a 34.1 percent stake and had already confirmed its approval of the merger.

Purchase Price not Disclosed

Patria is thus acquiring around 4.28 million shares in Baloise Holding, which corresponds to 9.351 percent of the share capital and voting rights. No details of the purchase price have been disclosed and the parties have agreed not to disclose them. The purchase is not subject to any conditions.

Whether the Baloise investment has paid off financially for Cevian therefore remains to be seen.

Cevian crossed the 3 percent threshold in Baloise about a year ago, later ramping up its stake over the summer and fall. It pressured management to restructure, including calls to sell the German business.

New Board of Directors without Cevian Representative

The election of Cevian representative Robert Schuchna to the Board of Directors had been scheduled for today's AGM. However, following the sale of Cevian's shares, the plan has been dropped and Schuchna will no longer stand for election, according to reports.

The planned composition of the Supervisory Board of Helvetia Baloise will also change as a result. As a result, the merged company's Board of Directors will only have 13 members instead of 14.

The Patria Cooperative will be able to vote at the Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting of Baloise on May 23. The chances that the shareholders of the two insurance companies will approve the merger plans have increased once again as a result of the transaction.