CNP Buys Control of Brazilian Insurer for

French life insurer CNP Assurances has entered Brazil’s fast-growing insurance market with a deal to buy a controlling share of Sasse for $535 million.

CNP agreed to buy a 50.75 percent stake in Caixa Seguros (Sasse) from Funcef, the pension fund unit of state banking group Caixa Economica Federal, although a legal challenge left a question mark hanging over the deal according to a report by Reuters news service.

CNP’s head of international development Bernard Cheveau told a news conference the French firm would also buy an additional 1.04 percent later from minority shareholders.

The sale is pending approval by Brazilian regulators.