History
The story of Sampo began in 1909. This brief history of Sampo encapsulates all of the relevant milestones of Sampo Group - from the early years prior to Finland’s independence right through to the present day.
Early 2020s will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on society, economy, businesses and the lives of ordinary people.
Hastings became a fully-owned subsidiary of Sampo in 2021.
Sampo began the new decade with a change in management when If’s CEO Torbjörn Magnusson took up the post of Group CEO in January 2020.
In August 2020, Sampo and the South African investment company RMI announced a joint bid for the UK vehicle insurer Hastings. The acquisition meant expansion of Sampo’s P&C insurance business and it gives the group a foothold in the UK market, which is many times larger than the Nordic P&C insurance markets. In December 2021, Sampo acquired RMI's minority ownership is Hastings and the option held by RMI to acquire 10 per cent of the company. Consequently, Hastings became a fully-owned subsidiary of Sampo.
In November 2020, Sampo started to decrease its stake in Nordea by selling a stake to institutional investors with an accelerated bookbuild offering. The stake was further reduced gradually until Sampo completed its Nordea-exit in April 2022.
Following the sale of our Nordea stake, Sampo had excess capital that it did not need in its insurance operations and hence the company has gradually returned the capital to the shareholders in form of ordinary dividends, extra dividends and share buybacks between October 2021 and August 2023.
Another milestone in the Group’s history was reached in November 2022, when trading of Sampo SDRs was launched on Nasdaq Stockholm. With the dual-listing, the company aims to grow investor demand and Sampo share’s liquidity for the benefit of all shareholders. Sampo did not raise new capital nor made any offering in connection with the dual listing.
On 29 March 2023 the Board proposed a demerger of Sampo plc by separating Mandatum from Sampo. The AGM approved the demerger plan on 17 May 2023. The partial demerger of Sampo plc became effective on 1 October 2023.
In June 2024 Sampo announced its decision to make a recommended, best and final public exchange offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares in Topdanmark not already owned by Sampo. The exchange offer to the shareholders of Topdanmark was completed in September 2024.
In 2024 Sampo’s insurance business consists of three segments: If, which is the largest P&C insurer in the Nordic Countries; the Danish P&C insurance company Topdanmark and P&C insurer Hastings in the UK.