Through the merger, BCR Asigurari will absorb Omniasig and take its name. According to data provided to CSA, at the end of last year the two companies had underwritten premiums worth 1.2 billion lei (EUR274.26 million).
BCR Asigurari is 95.94% owned by Austria’s Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), 1% by lender BCR and 3.06% is distributed among several individual shareholders. VIG also owns 98.56% of Omniasig. The other shareholders are BCR – 0.17% and several individual and corporate shareholders – 1.27%. Omniasig has a share capital of RON206.48 million.
After the merger, VIG will control 98.55% of the new Omniasig’s capital, BCR – 0.18% and the other shareholders (7,062 individuals and companies) – 1.27%. The merger will save the Austrian group EUR10 million, a figure announced by VIG deputy general manager Peter Hagen in August 2011.
VIG is one of the largest insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe. The group is floated on the Vienna Stock Exchange. In Romania, VIG also controls Asirom.
In 2011, the group underwrote premiums worth EUR510.9 million on the Romanian market, 4.7% lower than in the previous year, having restructured its portfolio on the general insurance segment. (EUR1=RON4.3754)