Fondiaria will bid for Asiban

Fondiaria-SAI, Italy’s second-largest insurer, is interested in taking over Asiban, one of the largest players on the local insurance market, which was put up for sale in the second half of last year by its four shareholders: BCR, BRD-SocGen, CEC (The Romanian Savings Bank) and Banca Transilvania, each with a 25% stake. “We will take part in the tender for Asiban,” representatives of the company told ZF. In fact, Fondiaria has been trying to enter the Romanian market for several years. Last year, the Italian company tried to buy Asirom, but eventually gave up. According to previous statements made by the shareholders, Asiban’s sale, which will be completed within the next few months, is this year’s most important transaction on the insurance market, because it is the last opportunity for foreign players to enter the Romanian market through the acquisition of a sizeable company. According to sources close to the sales process, the list of companies that hope to take over Asiban includes big names like Groupama (France), Uniqa (Austria), AXA (France), Generali (Italy), Aegon (Holland), Eureko (Holland) and Munich Re (Germany)- all important groups on the European market. French-based Groupama made another acquisition recently on the Romanian market – BT Asigurari, in a transaction with Banca Transilvania worth 90 million euros. When it took over BT Asigurari, market sources said Groupama would also put in an aggressive bid for Asiban.