Kepecs did not wish to divulge what the acquisition targets were, but the group was among investors interested in the takeover of Asiban, for which the French Groupama group paid €350 million. Five transactions took place on the local insurance market last year, worth some €900 million. ARDAF and RAI were taken over by Generali PPF Holding, BCR Asigurari and BCR Asigurari de Viata by Vienna Insurance Group, Unita by Uniqa, and OTP Garancia and Asiban by Groupama. Kepecs indicated that prices offered for companies sold last year on the local market were very high, and that if these transactions had taken place in 2009 the prices would have dropped by half.
The Dutch Aegon group has invested over €25 million in Romania to date. “We are prepared to invest even more in Romania, but the amount will depend on the evolution of the life and private pension insurance markets,” added Kepecs.
