“We’re on track, the restructuring plan for Astra is on track, we approved a capital hike yesterday. We’re in talks with several prospective investors. We will likely have an answer in July,” said Misu Negritoiu, head of the Romanian financial regulator ASF.
The ASF board on Wednesday approved the plan for a capital raise of nearly RON525 million for insurer Astra Asigurari, to RON682.7 million, as proposed by special administrator KPMG Advisory and the company’s shareholders.
The plan is to raise the insurer’s capital by RON424.91 million by issuing 159.74 million shares at a face value of RON2.66.
The raise will be performed in two stages, the first of which will last a month and will allow existing shareholders to exercise their preference rights on the new shares. The second stage will last five working days and will target shares left unsubscribed from the first.
Negritoiu said the state is not interested in taking over Astra and the company could be taken over by the Insurance Guarantee Fund at most or by a settlement authority if one is created. The government approved Wednesday the settlement bill, which has been sent to Parliament to be debated with urgency.
Astra Asigurari is the third largest insurance company in Romania, after Allianz-Tiriac and Omniasig. It had underwritings of RON777.24 million in 2014.