Atradius and Crédito y Caución Complete Business Combination

Amsterdam/Madrid (Netherlands/Spain) 28 January (PROTEXT/PRNewswire) -Atradius and Crédito y Caución, the world's second and fourth largestcredit insurers, today announced the completion of the transaction tocombine their businesses. The credit insurance companies will togetheroperate as part of the Atradius Group, providing credit insurance,surety/bonding, collections, credit information and other related productsand services to customers in 40 countries across the globe.

Paul-Henri Denieuil, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Atradius N.V.,commented: "This combination is something that both companies haveenvisaged since Crédito y Caución became an Atradius shareholder in 2003.Together, we look forward to leading the global credit insurance industry."

Jesús Serra, Chairman of the Board of Crédito y Caución added: "We will nowbe able to capitalise on the combined strengths of both Crédito y Cauciónand Atradius to provide our customers with a more extensive breadth ofcoverage, specialised products that help them meet their specific insuranceneeds and first class service."

Atradius has one of the world's leading global credit insurance andcollections platforms while Crédito y Caución leads in the Spanish andPortuguese markets. They will operate together as part of the AtradiusGroup but will maintain local brand names to ensure continued strong brandrecognition.

Isidoro Unda, CEO of Atradius N.V. concluded: "Our customers are our mostimportant concern and the priority of the new reinforced Atradius Groupwill always be to make sure their needs are addressed first. We haveincreased our financial strength and improved our value proposition andservice capabilities including an enlarged presence, especially in LatinAmerica."

About Atradius:

Atradius is a leading credit insurer with total revenues of around EUR 1.3billion and a 24% share of the world credit insurance market. It Insuresapproximately EUR 400 billion of world trade annually against non-paymentand provides a comprehensive range of risk transfer, collections and tradereceivables management services. With 3,500 staff and more than 90 officesin 40 countries, Atradius has access to credit information on 45 millioncompanies world-wide and makes more than 12,000 credit limit decisionsdaily. It is rated A (outlook stable) by Standard & Poor's and A2 (outlookstable) by Moody's.

About Crédito y Caución:

For over 75 years, through its credit and surety insurances, Crédito yCaución has contributed to the growth of companies offering them protectionfrom insolvency and non-payment risks derived from credit sales of goodsand services. With more than 70 offices, Crédito y Caución holds a marketshare in Spain of nearly 60%. Furthermore, it ranks second in Portugal witha market share of 34%, being therefore leader in its sector in the IberianMarket. The company recently expanded into Brazil. Its solvency isconfirmed by its A and A2 Standard & Poor's and Moody's ratings,respectively.

The Atradius Group (after the combination):

The Atradius Group provides credit insurance, surety and collectionsservices worldwide, and has a presence in 40 countries. Its products andservices aim to reduce its customers' exposure to buyers who fail to payfor the products and services they purchase. With total revenues ofapproximately EUR 1.8 billion and a 31% share of the global creditinsurance market, its products contribute to the growth of companiesthroughout the world by protecting them from payment risks associated withselling products and services on credit. The Atradius Group annuallyinsures around EUR 465 billion of world trade against non-payment. With 160offices, it has access to credit information on 52 million companiesworldwide and makes more than 22,000 credit limit decisions daily.

As from today, the new shareholder structure is as follows:

- 64.2% of shares owned by Grupo Compania Espanola de Credito y Caucion S.L.

- 25.0% of shares owned by Swiss Re

- 9.1% of shares owned by Deutsche Bank through its subsidiary DB EquityS.a.r.l.

- 1.7% of shares owned by Sal Oppenheim through its subsidiary Betrados B.V.

Internet: http://www.atradius.com

Source: Atradius N.V.

Further information: Atradius Corporate Communications, Christine Gerryn,tel.: +31(0)20-553-2260, e-mail: christine.gerryn@atradius.com.

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