Atradius

Geschiedenis

Atradius provides trade credit insurance, surety and collections services worldwide through a presence in 50 countries. It is the credit insurance arm of Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO.MC). Credit insurance, bonding and collections products help protect companies throughout the world from payment risks associated with selling products and services on trade credit. In 2016 the company had revenues of EUR 1,761 million. The company is rated 'A (excellent) out look stable' by A.M. Best and 'A3 outlook stable' by Moody'sHistoryThe roots of Atradius can be found in the 2001 acquisition by German insurer Gerling-Konzern Speziale Kreditversicherung of Dutch insurer Nederlandsche Credietverzekering Maatschappij . The company was then branded as GERLING NCM.Gerling Credit was established in 1954 as the credit insurance arm of the Gerling-Konzern insurance group of Cologne. In 1962 it opened its first international branch office in Switzerland and was the first private credit insurer to offer export credit protection.NCM had been founded in 1925 with the goal of improving trade for companies in the Netherlands. From 1932 onwards it also became the arm of the Dutch government through which it provided export credit services to Dutch companies. Atradius still performs this function through its affiliate Atradius Dutch State Business.Both Gerling Credit and NCM had made their own acquisitions before their combination, including the acquisition by NCM of the short-term arm of the UK government’s Export Credit Guarantee Department in 1991 and private insurers such as Namur Assurances du Crédit S.A., Belgium by Gerling Credit in 1994, both of which have their own histories dating back to the birth of trade credit insurance around 1919.The now international group was renamed Atradius in 2004. In 2008 the group merged with the Spanish credit insurer Crédito y Caución, founded in 1929, and subsequently gained an additional foothold in the Spanish speaking world.