History

In 2020, we celebrated our 95th anniversary, continuing our long history of supporting domestic and international trade throughout the world.

As with many modern day businesses, our company has a rich history and has grown both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. Each of the organisations that became part of the Atradius story has enjoyed a long life, confirming the longevity and strength of our business.

Atradius - Supporting trade more than 95  years 

As the first of the companies that went on to form part of Atradius, Nederlandsche Credietverzekering Maatschappij (NCM) was founded in the Netherlands in 1925. At that time, the company was created with the goal of improving trade for companies in the Netherlands. This business plan was cemented in 1932 when NCM partnered with the Dutch government to provide export credit services to Dutch companies on behalf of the Dutch State. This relationship still exists today through our affiliate Atradius Dutch State Business .

In Germany, Atradius' roots stem from Gerling-Konzern Speziale Kreditversicherung (Gerling Credit), which was established in 1954 as the credit insurance arm of the Gerling Group. Gerling Credit operated solely out of Germany until 1962 when it opened its first international branch office in Switzerland. Gerling Credit was the first private credit insurer to offer export credit protection.

In Spain, Crédito y Caución, founded in 1929, has focused on organically growing to become the dominant credit insurer and surety company on the Iberian Peninsula and fourth largest global credit insurer.

Internationalisation

The internationalisation and rapid expansion of business and trade throughout the latter half of the 20th century also drove consolidation in the credit insurance industry and both NCM and Gerling Credit were leading acquirers of credit insurance and collections companies. 

Through the merger of Gerling Credit and NCM, GERLING NCM was established in 2001. In January 2004, the company was rebranded as Atradius.

Replacing the Gerling Group as shareholder was, at that time, a group of leading international financial institutions including Swiss Re and Deutsche Bank, Sal. Oppenheim, Seguros Catalana Occidente, a leading Spanish financial services company, and Crédito y Caución.

On January 25, 2008, Atradius again entered into a major business union teaming up with Crédito y Caución to further strengthen its position in global credit insurance markets. At the same time, Grupo Catalana Occidente S.A. became the major shareholder of Atradius.

Today we are one of the world’s foremost credit insurance companies, a trusted provider of trade credit insurance, surety and collections services in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Disclaimer

Each publication available on or from our websites, such as, but not limited to webpages, reports, articles, publications, tips and helpful content, trading briefs, infographics, videos (each a “Publication”) is provided for information purposes only and is not intended as a recommendation or advice as to particular transactions, investments or strategies in any way to any reader. Readers must make their own independent decisions, commercial or otherwise, regarding the information provided. While we have made every attempt to ensure that the information contained in any Publication has been obtained from reliable sources, Atradius is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information in any Publication is provided ’as is’, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from its use, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In no event will Atradius, its related partnerships or corporations, or the partners, agents or employees thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in any Publication, or for any loss of opportunity, loss of profit, loss of production, loss of business or indirect losses, special or similar damages of any kind, even if advised of the possibility of such losses or damages.