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Romania’s BCR Sells 2 Units To Austria’s VIG For EUR244M

Banca Comerciala Romana, or BCR, the Romanian unit of Austrian Erste Bank, will sell its insurance companies BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata to Vienna Insurance Group, or VIG, in a deal worth some EUR244 million, BCR said in a press release Tuesday.
Romania’s BCR Sells 2 Units To Austria’s VIG For EUR244M
16 sept. 2008, 10:16, English

VIG will buy a 88.56% stake in BCR Asigurari and 88.47% in BCR Asigurari de Viata.

BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata will keep their initial names as long as VIG owns a stake of over 50% in the two companies, and will also continue to function in BCR units until the parties agree otherwise, according to the release.

The agreement also stipulates that BCR will keep a 5% stake in BCR Asigurari de Viata.

BCR and VIG also signed a 15-year cooperation agreement on the distribution of each company’s products in the other company’s network in Romania.

The transaction is expected to be finalized in the following weeks, after Romanian competition and insurance authorities approve the deal.

BCR Asigurari de Viata ranks third among life insurance companies in Romania, with a 7.44% market share, while BCR Asigurari ranks fifth among general insurance companies, with a 7.14% market share.

Negotiations between BCR and VIG started after the deal between Erste and VIG, first announced in March.

VIG also completed Monday the takeover of Erste Bank’s insurance unit in a deal worth EUR1.44 billion.