Exista
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík, Iceland |
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Key people
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| Products | Insurance, asset financing, investments |
| Revenue | €961.5 million (2007) |
| Profit |
 €573.9 million (2007)
|
| Total assets | €8.011 billion (2007) |
|
Number of employees
|
430 (2007) |
| Website | www.exista.com |
Exista hf. is an Icelandic financial services group formerly listed on the . Its activities are based primarily on insurance underwriting and other financial services, although it is also active in investments. The group’s primary market is the Nordic countries.
The Luxembourg-registered Exista S.A. has changed its name several times. It was originally Compagnie Financiere Scandinave.
A report published in the Danish media in 2005 identified two owners:
The paper trail shows that:
According to a report, Luxembourg-registered Compagnie Financiere Scandinave was renamed the Scandinavian Holding a month after incorporation. Later it was renamed Meidur S.A.. Meidur changed its name to Exista.
Exista was founded in 2001 by a consortium of Icelandic savings banks as a vehicle to hold shares in Kaupthing Bank. A controlling shareholding in Exista was sold to a holding company of Bakkavör founders Ágúst and Lýdur Gudmundsson in 2002. In September 2006 the firm was floated on the in a €2.6 billion initial public offering, the biggest in the country's history. The Gudmundsson brothers continue however to hold a near-45% stake in the business. The company was from the exchange in December 2008 following a share buyback.
By 9 October 2008, Kaupthing Bank HF was forced into government receivership. On 29 July 2009 exposed a confidential 210 page document listing Kaupthing's exposure to loans ranging from €45 million–1.25 billion. The leaked presentation revealed the bank had loaned billions of euros to its major shareholders, including a total of €1.43 billion to Exista and subsidiaries which own 23% of the bank.
Exista owns the Icelandic non-life insurance company Vátryggingarfélag Íslands (VÍS), which holds around one-third of the domestic market. Exista acquired control of VÍS from Kaupthing Bank in 2006. The firm also owns VÍS's sister company, the life cover provider Lífís. Exista's third consolidated subsidiary is Lýsing, which is a provider of asset financing.
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Wikipedia