Le roi est mort, vive le roi!
 The merger between ASIBAN, BT Asigurari, and OTP Garancia will be completed by the end of 2009 and the new company will activate the Romanian market as GROUPAMA Asigurari, the French group representatives have declared on Thursday.
So, at the end of 2009, two out of the first ten Romanian insurers and one small local insurance company will cease to exist as independent entities.
Thus, all documents regarding GROUPAMA Asigurari that need approval from the Insurance Supervisory Commission will be presented to the authority at the end of the first quarter, 2009, while the rebranding process and the launch of the company are scheduled for the next falls' end.
Following an investment of over EUR 550 million (more than EUR 450 million paid for taking over the three companies and another EUR 80 million capital injections) GROUPAMA is now starting the most ample merger plan in the history of the Romanian insurance market.
With a cumulated market share of 12.7% in non-life segment and of 8.4% in life insurance at the last years' end, GROUPAMA has very ambitious targets for Romania.
The French group expects 25% of the property and liability segment, 15% of motor insurance market and 20% of the life business in Romania on a medium and long term (5 years).
In order to reach such a position on the life insurance market GROUPAMA put its stake on an organic growth, excluding, at least for the moment, another acquisition.
"We believe the Romanian life insurance segment is at the very beginning, so the hierarchies could change in the next future years", Jean-Francois LEMOUX, International General Director, GROUPAMA.
However the most important challenge of the merger process is regaining the profit, as the three member companies of GROUPAMA reported total losses of about RON 40 million at the end of 2007, over RON 32 million being the loss of BT Asigurari alone.
"We will do everything in our power for regaining profit in 2009, so we could concentrate, in 2010, on a dynamic development of the group and long term profitable growth", Denis ROUSSET, General Manager of BT Asigurari and the one who will lead GROUPAMA in Romania.
Author: Mihaela CIRCU
on 14.11.2008
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