Turkey's Sabanci seeks partner for insurer Aksigorta
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Leading Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding wants to find a partner for its insurance unit Aksigorta rather than selling it, group chairwoman Guler Sabanci said late on Tuesday.
She told reporters late on Tuesday that her aim was for Aksigorta to focus solely on the insurance sector after its restructuring process.
Guler said there were expectations of consolidation in the sector and the group's merger of Ak Emeklilik with Aviva to create Avivasa could be a model for Aksigorta.
"I would like a structure like that for Aksigorta. But this is not a sale. We want Aksigorta to focus just on the insurance sector," she was quoted as saying by Anatolian Agency.
Aksigorta, the fourth biggest company in the sector, said on Aug. 7 it planned to divest stakeholdings in various companies. Sabanci has a 62-percent stake in the company.
Turkey's financial and insurance sectors have been attractive destinations for foreign investors as the economy speedily recovered from the devastating crisis in 2001.
Some 70 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.