Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that its ratings and outlook on entities of the Spanish Sistema Mapfre insurance group are unaffected by its acquisition of 50 percent of the agency-based motor operations of Società Cattolica di Assicurazione (Cattolica; A/Watch Neg/--), the Italian composite insurer.

The principal operating entity of Sistema Mapfre is currently Mapfre Mutualidad de Seguros y Reaseguros a Prima Fija (AA/Stable/--) Mapfre and Cattolica announced on 18 December, 2006, that they had reached an agreement whereby they would jointly develop motor business in Italy distributed via the agency channel.

The joint venture is expected to come into force during 2007, following regulatory approvals, and will involve a merger of the agency-based motor insurance operations of Cattolica and its subsidiaries, Duomo Assicurazioni (not rated) and UniOne Assicurazioni (not rated).

The new entity is to be renamed Mapfre Cattolica Auto, in which Mapfre and Cattolica will each have a 50 percent holding and equal board representation. The terms of the jointventure agreement allow for it to be reviewed every five years.