Hurriyet English
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ağustos 20, 2008 11:50
Europe's insurers remain on the hunt for small to midsize acquisitions, with the action likely to center on promising emerging markets to the east and south, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Heavyweights such as AXA SA of France, Assicurazioni Generali SpA of Italy and Zurich Financial Services AG of Switzerland are seeking buying opportunities in emerging markets to offset slowdowns in domestic premium growth, the report said.
The sector's mergers-and-acquisitions focus will likely take place in countries like Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine, it added.
Turkey's financial and insurance sectors have been attractive destinations for foreign investors as the economy speedily recovered from the devastating crisis in 2001.
AXA, Europe's second-largest insurer by market value after Allianz, is among several European insurers that have shown an interest in Yapi Kredi Sigorta, the insurance arm of Turkish bank Yapi Kredi. The sale is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks and could fetch as much as 800 million euros.
The 80 percent of Turkey's 9 billion-dollar insurance sector belongs to foreign companies. However the biggest problem seen in the sector is low profit margins, which is expected to recover in the coming years.
In the latest wave of foreign acquisitions in the sector, OYAK, the army pension fund, had sold its 50 percent stake in the insurance company to its French partner AXA for $525 million. Dutch Aegon bought Ankara Emeklilik, while Koc Holding sold its shares in the insurance companies to its partner Allianz for 370 million euros.
