Tender in no rush to sell Ardaf

“I”m in no rush to sell,” stated Ovidiu Tender, the businessman who controls Ardaf insurance company, in response to the rumours on the market about a possible takeover of this insurer. Tender did not provide any details on bids or the stage of various negotiations, only specifying, ” many companies have expressed interest.” “If a bid happens to be satisfactory, then we will sit down and talk,” Ovidiu Tender added. Ardaf”s acquisition has been rumoured for a quite a while, although its management has been as tight-lipped as the company”s owner. “The bids were not made to me but to the shareholder. I don”t know any details, I only know there”s a lot of them,” stated Octavian Manastireanu, the chairman of Ardaf”s Board of Directors. Ardaf posted revenues from gross premiums underwritten of 28.2 million euros from general insurance in the first quarter, up 174% on the same time last year. Underwriting on the life insurance segment amounted to 315,000 euros. The 2004 results helped place Ardaf on the fifth position among general insurance companies, with approximately 6.4% of the market, and on the seventh position in the overall ranking (in terms of total gross premiums underwritten). Ardaf shares have been among the most traded securities on RASDAQ over the last four weeks. ZF