OTP Garancia is officially a part of GROUPAMA
 The Hungarian bank OTP has announced that the transaction regarding the sale of its insurance division, OTP Garancia, to the French insurer GROUPAMA was finalized. "The Hungarian part of the Garancia transaction was closed on September, 17," according to an OTP statement. In exchange for USD 956 million, GROUPAMA gained control over the subsidiaries of the Hungarian insurer in Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, becoming the third largest company on the Romanian insurance market, with a cumulated market share of 12.6%, from ASIBAN, BT Asigurari and OTP Garancia Asigurari.
The plans for the acquisition of the insurance arm of OTP Bank, one of the largest financial groups in CEE and one of the few independent entities in the region, were developed in February 2008. When the deal was signed, it was decided that the French group will also receive 8% of OTP Bank and it will have full access to the clients' database of the bank.
OTP Garancia holds a 9.8% share of the market in Hungary, while the subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania account for 4% of the total turnover of the Hungarian company. Garancia entered the Romanian market in November 2005, by acquiring 95.81% of CECCAR-ROMAS.
OTP Garancia Asigurari holds the 16th spot on the Romanian non-life insurance sector and it registered a spectacular growth, of 262.3% in the first half of 2007, compared to the same period of last year. Insurance premiums reached RON 33.5 million, as compared to RON 9.24 million in the first semester of 2007.
For GROUPAMA, 2007 was a year marked by an aggressive expansion plan in CEE. The group plans on becoming the 10th largest insurer in Europe and it has invested more than EUR 500 million to acquire the three companies in Romania, in less then a year.
GROUPAMA increased its turnover by 12.1% in S1 2008, to EUR 7.7 billion and it has registered an operational profit of EUR 228 million, 5% more than in the first half of 2007.
Author: Andreea IONETE
on 19.09.2008
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