Cattolica and Inter Mutuelles Assistance announce that they have completed the closing of the transaction which sees Cattolica's entry into IMA Italia Assistance SpA through the subscription of a paid capital increase, for a total amount of 8,58 million euro, That will lead Cattolica to hold 35% of IMA Italia Assistance SpA Through this partnership, Cattolica and the IMA Group combine their industrial skills, boosting the growth of IMA Italia Assistance. Alberto Minali, Chief Executive Officer of the Cattolica Assicurazioni Group, commented: “I am happy to announce Cattolica's entry into IMA Italia Assistance and the birth of the 4th operator of assistance services in Italy. IMA Italia has an excellent competitive positioning on the Italian market and is characterized by a great attention to the quality of the service which makes it one of the market reference operators for insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers and utilities. Together with the IMA Group we have set ourselves important growth objectives in Italy where we wish to strengthen our position as market operators at the service of our current and future partners. Furthermore, through this strategic partnership we reaffirm our desire to enrich and innovate the ecosystem of services for our policyholders, with the aim of evolving our insurance offer by integrating services with high added value with a view to prevention and protection for our customers , as envisaged by our Business Plan”.
Claude Sarcia, CEO of the Inter Mutuelles Assistance Group and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IMA Italia Assistance, declared: “We enthusiastically welcomed the news of the approval of the Italian and European institutions for Cattolica's entry into IMA Italia Assistance. Our Italian branch is a dynamic and innovative company and Cattolica's entry into the shareholding structure will bring new energy and new stimuli. Thanks to the strategic vision identity with Cattolica, IMA Italia Assistance will continue its search for excellence, guaranteeing an identity of independence on the Italian market with a strategic focus on the human factor and innovation”.
Therefore, from 1 April 2019 IMA Italia Assistance SpA will be the new sole provider of assistance services offered by the Networks of the Cattolica Assicurazioni Group. Starting from the same date, relations with all the previous suppliers will cease and to make the response to the customer in difficult situations immediate and effective, the toll-free number 800572572 will be active for Cattolica Assicurazioni as the only reference in case of emergency and to obtain assistance.
Cattolica Assicurazioni also announced that it had won the Special Award for the "Digital Employer Branding" category of the HR Digital Mindset Award – Marco Fertonani organized by the Proper Transearch Group, dedicated to Italian companies that have distinguished themselves for the use of new technologies for the management and development of Human Resources: it is the first time that the recognition has gone to an insurance company. The jury was convinced by the change of pace undertaken by the Company which has improved the effectiveness and efficiency of processes thanks to digital innovation. In the awareness that the involvement of human capital is the fundamental lever for the realization of the 2018-2020 Business Plan, Cattolica has activated a widespread Employer Branding Strategy, to communicate internally and externally the company's objectives and values and keep customer engagement high .
In 2018 the Company renewed the site, for simple and transparent communication, resulted in the "Best Climber" site for Italy and Europe according to the 2018 Webranking made by Lundquist. Subsequently, the new intranet portal "NOI" was implemented, a modern and multimedia platform, also accessible from smartphones. Then there is READYTOGO, a digital platform which, as part of a broader project launched with Great Place to Work in 2017, allows employees to collaborate on social media to identify challenges on which to compete and propose ideas. Alongside the “Digital Employer Branding” activities, the new digital context built by Cattolica's HR function includes a complex series of new initiatives, including DIGITAL ATTITUDE, a digital skills assessment project; smart working two days a week; WITH We Improve Together, a new bottom-up performance evaluation system; the TRAINING ACADEMY, with a training offer based on digital training methods including e-learning, webinars, virtual classes and JOB MARKET, a transparent personnel selection system, already used today by one employee out of two, which makes it possible to speed up internal mobility processes; finally, but only in chronological order, the new Cattolica App, tested with the help of Group collaborators.
No less significant are the organizational news: 2017 reorganizations have been implemented since mid-19 involving 350 resources at all company levels, employed to review and re-engineer 96% of processes. Furthermore, a unique case in Europe, the "Insurance analytics and business architecture" area was created, a team that combines the task of analyzing the data generated by
customers to create new connected products.
