GROUPAMA has green light for overtaking OTP Garancia
The European Commission has announced the overtaking of the Hungarian insurer
OTP Garancia by the French group GROUPAMA. According to the European Commission,
the transaction will not affect in an important way the competition on the
European market.
The European Commission has announced that, because of the limited presence
of OTP Garancia and GROUPAMA, the absence of the barriers of entering the sector
and the presence of some important international players, there are no reasons
to be concerned regarding the competition, as following the transaction.
The EC's approval regards overtaking the OTP Garancia operations from Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia.
The entering of GARANCIA on the Romanian insurance market has taking place in
November of 2005, by the acquisition af a 95.81 package from the CECCAR-ROMAS
company. GROUPAMA has overtaken, in the end of last week another Romanian insurance
company, ASIBAN.
At the time being, GROUPAMA owns in Romania a total market share of 12.57%,
of which ASIBAN - 8.5%, BT Asigurari - 3.76% and OTP Garancia - 0.31%.
GROUPAMA is situated on the third place in the chart of the biggest French insurance
companies. Present on the market since the XIX century, the company started
its activity as a mutual insurance company, expanding continuously as a modern
firm and offering the entire pallet of insurance products in France. The company
is already present in Central Europe trhu it's branch in Hungary having also
offices in Greece, Italy, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, China and
Vietnam. The incomes from the underwritings registered by GROUPAMA in 2006 were
of EUR 14.2 billion.
Author: Mihaela CIRCU
on 17.04.2008
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