Gráinne
Callanan
Partner
Gráinne Callanan, is head of the Matheson Cork office and is a partner in the Financial Institutions Group and specialises in health insurance and regulatory insurance.
Gráinne advises a wide range of leading domestic and international financial institutions doing business in and from Ireland including life and non-life (re)insurance companies, captive insurers and intermediaries on corporate transactions, regulatory and compliance and corporate governance. Gráinne has extensive expertise in the areas of new authorisations, portfolio transfers, cross-border mergers, corporate restructurings, product development and distribution arrangements.
She has advised on a wide range of innovative transactions in the insurance market and has taken a leading role advising clients on a number of significant acquisitions of closed books of life insurance businesses.
Experience and Education
- Advised Octium Group on the cross border merger by acquisition and simultaneous portfolio transfer of Octium Assurance AG, a private limited company based in Liechtenstein, into Octium Life DAC, an Irish successor company, regulated as a life insurance undertaking by the Central Bank of Ireland;
- Advised ALD Group on its acquisition of Leaseplan and the subsequent merger of ALD Re DAC (a reinsurer) and Euro Insurances Ireland DAC (a non-life insurer), both leaders in the field in the automotive industry;
- Advised Utmost Group on a significant number of portfolio transfer arrangements including the acquisition of books from Quilter, AXA Life Europe, Athora together with a number of significant internal consolidating portfolio transfers;
- Advised Generali on the acquisition and restructuring of the Liberty Seguros business;
- Advised a leading intermediary on a significant number of acquisitions in the Irish broker market.Advised Credit Agricole, La Bank Postale, Utmost and others on regulatory change of control applications;
- Advised AXIS Specialty Europe SE on the cross-border merger by absorption with a Belgian authorised non-life insurance undertaking;
- Advised Partner Re on its acquisition of a book of insurance business from Compre Group;
- Advised a leading domestic bank on all of its significant distribution arrangements in the Irish market.
- University College Cork (BCL, Law and German)
- University College Cork (LLM)
- IPMA Certified Project Management Associate (Diploma in Project Management)
- Law Society of Ireland
- Gráinne is Co-Chair of the IBA Insurance Committee.
- Gráinne lectures at the Law Society of Ireland and the Insurance Institute of Ireland.
- Gráinne is also a member of the Cork Financial Services Forum.
