Zurich Insurance Group agreed to sell its Italian life and pensions back book to Portuguese insurer GamaLife, the first step in a plan by the Swiss company to improve capital allocations.

As the wave of SPAC mergers crested in the past two years, startups that chose this path found it difficult to keep up with more established companies and investor expectations. The insurtech companies that went this route are not exempt from experiencing that strain.

Bain Capital has made a final pitch to members of British insurer LV= to back its takeover bid, after a lengthy sale process that’s drawn a dozen offers as well as political heat about preserving mutual firms.

In this segment of the series, the authors examine the role M&A will play in the industry’s adoption of insurtech—and more generally, the need for established carriers to adapt to the increasingly innovative and service-based product and service offerings new entrants bring to bear.

Willis Towers Watson Plc is adding four new members to its board after activist investors pushed for changes at the insurance brokerage following the collapse of a $30 billion planned sale to Aon Plc.

The acquisition is a win for Lemonade’s recently launched car insurance product. Metromile has a decade of driving data based on its usage-based model and it operates licenses in 49 states, all of which will be merged into a single company, if the deal goes through.

Metromile went public via a SPAC in February.

French lender La Banque Postale is offering to buy the shares it doesn’t already own in CNP Assurances, valuing the firm at some $17 billion in what stands to be the largest takeover of an insurer this year.

Activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a new position in Willis Towers Watson Plc Thursday, and said it believes the insurance broker could nearly double its share price in the next three years.

The company said it has taken a majority stake in Cardif Pinnacle, a pet insurance-focused subsidiary of BNP Paribas SA, and is buying Chicago-based Figo Pet Insurance LLC, beginning a series of investments in the sector. The prices weren’t disclosed.