/ world today news/ After buying the majority stake in the Bulgarian insurance company “Victoria” at the end of last year, in October the Italian financial group Generali acquired full control over the company.
The transaction was registered by the Central Depository, reports Generali. Its value is not reported. This is another company from which Tsvetan Vassilev leaves.
Until now, the Italian group owned 67%, but the operational activity of the company was actually controlled by Tsvetan Vasilev, who held the remaining 33% through his associated “Mel Finance”. The connection is through the Swiss company Cefinco Holding, which is the sole owner of “Mel Finance”. Until recently, Vasilev was also the chairman of the supervisory board of the insurance company, but from documents published in the Commercial Register it is clear that by a decision of an extraordinary general meeting held on September 3, the shareholders of “Victoria” released him from this post. In his place, Luciano Chirina was elected, who is the executive director of Generali PPF Holding – the holding company uniting the business of the Italian group in Central and Eastern Europe.
According to Chirina, the acquisition of the remaining part of Victoria’s capital follows the group’s strategy to have full control over its important subsidiaries in the region. “This investment is proof of the importance of Bulgaria, which is a significant part of our business in Central and Eastern Europe. And Bulgaria is a place with significant potential for growth,” commented the manager.
Generali bought the majority stake in “Victoria” in December 2013 from another Italian company – the Rome-registered FATA Assicurazioni Danni, which specializes in covering agricultural risks. FATA itself was until recently part of the Generali group, but a month earlier, in November, it was sold to the insurance group Societa Cattolica di Assicurazioni.
In recent years, the market share of “Victoria”, established in 2002, has increased significantly, as a factor for this were also some won state contracts. The company operates in the non-life insurance segment, offering corporate health policies as of this year. At the end of the first half of the year, the company was the seventh largest in the general insurance segment, holding 6% of the market. Its gross premium income at the end of June was BGN 43.5 million. The data at the end of August indicate a slight contraction of the market share to 5.6% and premium income of BGN 50.3 million.
In addition to “Victoria”, the Italian financial group is present on the Bulgarian market with two other insurance companies – for general and life insurance, respectively. As of the end of August, they have a market share of 3.6% and 3.3% in the two segments, respectively, with premium income of BGN 34.6 million and BGN 7.2 million. It is possible that after the new deal, the two insurance groups of Generali in Bulgaria will be merged.
In 2008, the group moved its reinsurance center for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to Bulgaria – thus “GP Reinsurance” became the first and so far the only reinsurance company in the country. At the end of the half year, the company realized BGN 656.1 million in premium income from reinsurance.
The information is from “Capital”.
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