Asirom, a takeover target for Fondiaria

The second-largest general insurance company in Romania, Asirom, could be taken over by Fondiaria, an Italian daily reports. The information was also provided by sources on the Romanian market. However, the businessman who controls Asirom, Ioan Niculae, denies these rumours. The news, already published by ZIARUL FINANCIAR in December 2005, was confirmed by Il Sole 24 Ore on Saturday and reconfirmed for ZF by sources on the insurance market yesterday. The daily Il Sole 24 Ore said on Saturday that Fondiaria-SAI SpA is in talks to buy Asirom. “Fondiaria-SAI Group is in talks to acquire Asirom, a Romanian company founded in 1991, which concluded 2003 with some 132 million euros in gross underwritten premiums, and which could conclude 2005 with 200 million euros in gross underwritten premiums. Asirom is a market leader on the auto liability insurance (RCA) segment, with 1.7 million policies sold. Asirom could be a strategic target, easy to integrate into Fondiaria, which accounts for 25% of the Italian auto liability insurance market,” Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Contacted by ZIARUL FINANCIAR, the Italian journalist Alberto Grassani, who wrote the article says he got the information from “sources in very high places on the insurance market.” InterAgro continues to deny any talks over the sale of Asirom. “We maintain that our company, SC InterAgro SA, the majority shareholder of Asirom SA with 50% in its share capital, does not intend to sell its stake in this company.” ZF