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Merger of Groupama acquisitions to complete

French insurer Groupama will soon complete the merger of three companies it acquired in 2007 - Asiban BT Asigurari and OTP Garancia Asigurari, daily Bursa reports quoting from a press release of the company issued on Thursday.

The new company will be branded Groupama and will draw from the knowledge and know-how already gained in 12 other countries, in an attempt to become a significant player on all the segments of the Romanian insurance market.

Groupama International CEO Jean Francois Lemoux says Romania is a central element in the company's international development strategy, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

The merger is scheduled to complete before the end of 2009, with the documents required to be approved Romania's Insurance Oversight Commission (CSA) to be submitted at the end of the first quarter of 2009, and the re-branding process as well as the launch of the new company scheduled for late autumn.

Daily Ziarul financiar quotes Groupama Romanian Operational Chief Officer Denis Rousset as saying the merger of Asiban, BT Asigurari and OTP Garancia will not entail massive staff redundancies.

'We do not have collective redundancy plans in mind and it is too early to say how many people will work with Groupama Asigurari, the new company. Depending on the business developments, we might even hire more employees,' says Rousset, who is also CEO of BT Asigurari.

BT Asigurari, Asiban and OTP Garancia currently has a staff of 2,700 employees, 9,400 sellers and 500 local outlets.

The company resulting from the merger will be run by Rousset. He announced on Thursday that incumbent Asiban CEO Dumitru Ceraceanu will soon leave the company.

Groupama performed the acquisitions in Romania between December 2007 and June 2008, when the crisis was not felt and asset prices were high. The acquisition of Asiban for 350 million euros was the highest-priced insurance acquisition in Romania to date.

Groupama International CEO Lemoux expects the insurance market to slow down because of the crisis. 'There is a strong connection between the economy and insurance growth. In Romania, economic growth will inevitably slow down in 2009, but it will not get into a recession. The insurance market will develop at a smaller pace, but it will continue to grow,' says Lemoux.

Groupama is targeting a 25-percent market share in property insurance in Romania, a 20-percent share in the life assurance market of Romania and a 15-percent share in the motor insurance business.

 

Sursa: http://www.rompress.ro

Tags: groupama insurance market romania company asigurari complete asiban merger otp

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