Rumored Asiban price is “unrealistic”

Five international lenders are interested in the local insurer, namely French groups Axa and Groupama, Italian group Generali, and Dutch groups Eureko and Aegon.

Sources close to the negotiations indicated that final bids for Asiban amount to €300-350 million, with Groupama highest bidder.

Representatives of the five groups declined to comment on their offers. “We are honored to be courted by some of Europe’s major companies in the field,” Asiban’s President, Dumitru Ceraceanu, told Business Standard.

Asiban reported gross subscribed premiums worth €185 mln in 2007, which gives it some 8.6 percent of the insurance industry share, worth €2.15 billion last year.