Gjensidige

Infobox Company
company_name = Gjensidige Forsikring BA
company_
company_type = Mutual
foundation = 1689
location = Oslo, Norway
key_people = Helge L Baastad (CEO)
area_served = Norway, Denmark, Sweden, The Baltics
industry = Insurance, Financial services
products =
revenue = profit NOK 18 billion (2006)
operating_income = NOK 1.2 billion (2006)
net_income = NOK 3.2 billion (2006)
num_employees = 3,347 (2007)
parent =
subsid = [http://www.tennant.se Tennant] [http://www.fair.dk Fair] [http://www.kommuneforsikring.dk Kommuneforsikring] Parekss insurance company
homepage = [http://www.gjensidige.no www.gjensidige.no]
footnotes =

Gjensidige is a Norwegian insurance company organised as a mutual insurance company. Though the company has roots back to 1689 when the fire treasury at Nes was founded. Gjensidige in its present form was founded in 2003 when the insurance division of Gjensidige NOR was not made part of the merger with Den norske Bank. Gjensidige is a self-owning institution with a marked share of 32,1% of the Norwegian insurance marked and has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway. The company has 176 branches and 1.5 million customers. Gjensidige has subsidiaries in Denmark, Sweden and The Baltics

The company offers all kinds of insurance and is divided into three main sectors: private, agriculture and business. It also offers retail banking products through its subsidiary Gjensidige Bank as well as pensions and savings products.

History

The brand name Gjensidige was first taken into use in 1976 when Norsk Bilforsikring Gjensidige, originally Christiania almindelige gjensidige forsørgelsesanstalt was merged with Samtrygd. Samtrygd was created in 1920 as an umbrella organisation for the 260 fire treasuries in Norway to create a stable liquidity in case of large fires. The first fire treasury was founded in 1689 in Nes.

In 1993 Gjensidige merged with Forenede Forsikring and in 1996 Gjensidige Bank was created with banking services. In 1999 Gjensidge and the savings bank Sparebanken NOR merged to form Gjenside NOR. When Gjensidige NOR merged with Den norske Bank in 2003 to form DnB NOR, Gjensidige was demerged and became a separate company again, though it many places retains co-location with DnB NOR.In November 2007 Gjensidige applied for a listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange, and was scheduled to be listed in Q4 of 2008. However, due to the global financial turmoil and instability on the stock exhanges, Gjensidige has announced that it has postponed its debut on the OSE until 2009.

ee also

* List of oldest companies

External links

* [http://www.gjensidige.no Gjensidige web site]