Reuters: KBC to take control of Bulgarian insurer DZI

Reuters: KBC to take control of Bulgarian insurer DZI


Belgian banking and insurance group KBC has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Bulgarian insurer DZI Insurance for 185 mln euro, news agency Reuters reported on Tuesday, January 30.KBC, which considers central and eastern Europe to be a second home market, is buying the Balkan country's leading insurer with market share in general and life insurance of 17.7 and 26.4% respectively, said Reuters. The Belgian company plans to launch a public bid for the remaining 30%, which are floated on the Bulgarian stock exchange. This is its first major acquisition of an insurance company since the expansion of the European Union in 2004. DZI said the Belgian group beat France's Axa and Groupama as well as Dutch insurer Eureko for the deal. 'The achieved price is very good, especially in light of the situation of the insurance market in Bulgaria,' DZI Insurance executive director Valeri Aleksiev was quoted as saying by the news agency. Under the terms of the deal, KBC will also pay about 75 mln euro to Kontrakt Sofia, an amount equal to 70% of the undistributed capital gain proceeds received by DZI Insurance for the sale of its stake in DZI Bank . 'As part of the deal, KBC will also acquire DZI Invest, a securities broker active on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange,' KBC said in a statement. The deal is subject to approval by the Bulgarian regulatory authorities and DZI said the deal would most likely be finalised in two to three months. KBC has already built up a presence in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It recently announced acquisitions in Romania and is also set to take a majority stake in a bank in Belgrade.(Dnevnik)