Astra is slated for sale

The State Ownership Fund (SOF) has put up for privatisation by direct negotiation the 75.6% stake owned in insurance and reinsurance company Astra Bucuresti, the last state-owned such firm.

Astra is the second-largest insurance company in Romania, having cash-ins from gross premiums amounting to 348 billion lei in 1999 and a market quota standing at 11.7%, coming next after Asirom, which benefits from a 36.9% market share.

The company has a share capital worth 50.4 billion lei, divided into 2,016,000 shares, having a face value of 25,000 lei. SOF owns 75.67% of the company’s shares, the rest of them belonging to SIF (Financial Investment Company) Muntenia (5.676%), SIF Moldova (5.676%), SIF Banat-Crisana (5.676%) and to other shareholders (1.619%).

The company’s shares are currently traded on the Rasdaq secondary market. The latest average trading price, dating from August 15, amounted to 91,250 lei for one share. Meanwhile, no other transactions have been concluded.

The company provides mediation services in the domain of insurance and reinsurance.

Astra holds 15% of the car insurance market, with 111 billion lei of cashed-in gross premiums.

Astra was founded in 1990, when investors took over the foreign activities of the State Insurance Administration.

Following a share capital increase performed in 1998, which it did not attend, SOF gave up the 70% stake it held in Asirom, currently owning only 27% of stock.

Potential investors interested in Astra might be the five SIFs or even Asirom, whose representatives could not be contacted yesterday.

Astra owns 15% in the stock of insurance company Generali, whose main shareholder is the Italian company bearing the same name. According to a protocol signed when the company was founded, Astra has to give up this stake, once privatised, and cede it to the Italian company.

Privatisation offers are to be submitted to SOF by September 29, after a guarantee of 7.6 billion lei is paid.