Swiss Life Holding AG (SLHN.VX) Wednesday said it will sell its French transport insurance subsidiary L'Europeenne d'Assurance Transport, or CEAT, to Swiss competitor Helvetia Holding AG (HELN.EB) for an undisclosed sum.

Although the size of the deal is relatively small - the unit generated a premium volume of about EUR30 million in 2008 - the move reflects Swiss Life's efforts to continue to focus on its life insurance business.

For Helvetia, on the other hand, the transaction is another important step in its expansion strategy in Europe that should safeguard the independence of the St. Gallen-based insurer, which has repeatedly been considered a takeover target.

"The purchase of CEAT supports Helvetia Group's strategy of growing both organically and through selective acquisitions", said Helvetia Chief Executive Stefan Loacker. "Thanks to our excellent capital base, we are able to finance this transaction with our own funds," he added.

The asset swap, analysts said, is also indicative of the insurance industry's health, and they expect more takeover deals over the next few months. A recent large deal involved Zurich Financial Services AG (ZURN.VX), which earlier this year bought American International Group Inc's (AIG) U.S. car insurance business.

 
Company Web sites: http://www.swisslife.com 
http://www.helvetia.com 
 
-By Goran Mijuk, Dow Jones Newswires, +41 43 443 80 47; goran.mijuk@dowjones.com