Uniqa group (Austrian), Aegon (Dutch) and Groupama (French), one of the biggest players on the financial market in the region, are vying over the acquisition of BT Asigurari, sources close to the deal say.
BT Asigurari, a member of the Banca Transilvania group, was put up for sale several months ago and a number of foreign financial groups have put their names on the list for the acquisition. Eventually, Uniqa, Aegon and Groupama made the shortlist, with the deal to be struck within the next few months.
Consultants for the sale are investment firm Capital Partners, with legal assistance from Musat & Asociatii law firm.
Considering the prices at which deals have been made on the insurance market over the last few years, of about 0.8 euros for one euro of the turnover, BT Asigurari's value stands at somewhere around 70 million euros. The company posted 60 million-euro turnover last year, and set out to achieve 88 million euros in underwritten premiums in 2007.
The Dutch at Aegon could stand the biggest chances of buying BT Asigurari because they are already working with Banca Transilvania on the private pension segment. This year, Aegon and Banca Transilvania set up the BT Aegon joint venture, which manages a mandatory pension fund and intends to enter the voluntary pensions market.
Although Aegon announced it would enter the domestic insurance market via a greenfield investment, the Dutch say they did make an offer to the owner of BT Asigurari.
"We have conducted talks with Banca Transilvania to buy BT Asigurari, we performed a due diligence and made them an offer, but the final decision has not been made yet," Beatrice Tavasze, Aegon Central and Eastern Europe told ZIARUL FINANCIAR.
Aegon operates in 20 countries and manages about 368 billion euros in assets.
Uniqa, which owns 50% in insurance company Astra on the d
