Vienna Insurance acquires insurance operations from Erste Bank

Vienna Insurance Group has entered into an agreement with Erste Bank to acquire all of Erste Bank’s insurance operations in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Romania for a cash consideration of EUR 1.4 bln. A long-term distribution agreement has been entered into, giving Vienna Insurance Group access to Erste Bank’s extensive distribution network with more than 16 mln clients and more than 2,900 branches.

“With this acquisition and long-term cooperation, Vienna Insurance Group takes advantage of a unique opportunity to further implement its strategy for sustained growth in CEE,” said Vienna Insurance Group CEO Gunter Geyer.

“This makes us the No. 1 insurance company among the international insurers operating in CEE and, importantly, we also become a leading player in the life insurance segment, which we see as our future growth engine in Austria and CEE.”

Erste Bank’s insurance activities consist of two main entities, s Versicherung
Group with operations in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia,
and BCR Asigurari Group with operations in Romania.

s Versicherung Group comprises primarily life insurance activities, whereas BCR Asigurari Group has a significant presence in both life and non-life insurance. The Vienna Insurance Group already has small minority stakes in s Versicherung and its subsidiaries through Donau Versicherung. Post-transaction, Vienna Insurance Group will own about 95% in s Versicherung and its subsidiaries with the remaining 5% of the life insurance operations owned by Erste Bank and its subsidiaries.

With regard to BCR Asigurari Group, Vienna Insurance Group will acquire an 88.5% ownership from Erste Bank, with the remainder owned by existing minority shareholders. Overall, the transaction adds almost EUR 1.3 bln based on gross written premiums for fiscal year 2007 to Vienna Insurance Group – predominantly in the life insurance segment.