OTP eyes top ten insurer

The largest Hungarian bank, OTP, which bought RoBank two months ago, is looking to acquire one of Romania’s top ten insurance companies.

Immediately after the acquisition of RoBank was completed, the Hungarian bank’s representatives voiced their intention to invest in the Romanian insurance industry as well, either through an acquisition, or in a new company. Meanwhile, OTP has decided to buy a top ten general insurer, according to market sources.

Some of the bank’s officials are in Romania these days, to gather information. OTP representatives have not commented on the bank’s acquisition plans.

OTP has announced a very ambitious investment plan aimed at Romania over the following years, a plan worth about 100 million euros beside the 45 million euros used for the acquisition of RoBank.

Among companies active on the general insurance market, only five companies, namely Asiban, Ardaf, Asirom, BCR Asigurari and Astra, are still Romanian-held, which makes them a possible takeover target for OTP.

The other five, that is Allianz-Tiriac, Omniasig, Unita, Generali and AIG Romania, are controlled either by very large foreign insurance groups with development plans, or by investment funds (Omniasig’s case), which are still unlikely to be willing to sell. Furthermore, Omniasig has acquired two smaller companies on the market over the last three months.

Of the Romanian companies, Astra and BCR Asigurari may probably be excluded from the list of OTP. In the case of Astra, the company’s representatives have repeatedly said they are not willing to sell and that they are engaged in a company development policy, while BCR Asigurari is tightly bound to its parent company, BCR, which is being privatised.

This leaves Asirom, Ardaf and Asiban as possible targets. Contacted by Ziarul Financiar, Asiban and Ardaf representatives stated they were not aware of any such plan by the Hungarian bank. Representatives of InterAgro, the majority shareholder in Asirom, could not be contacted for comment. Ardaf is owned by businessman Ovidiu Tender, while Asiban is controlled by four banks (BCR, BRD, Banca Transilvania and CEC-Romanian Savings Bank).
sorin.pislaru@zf.ro