The Austrian company that already owns part of Sigal will buy a further 23 percent following agreement with minority shareholders in Tirana. It becomes majority shareholder with 68.7 percent, while the other major investor, the Albanian American Enterprise Fund, will still keep its 13 percent holdings in Sigal for now.
By Tirana Times Staff
TIRANA, Nov 11 — Austrian insurer UNIQA Group will acquire a further 23 percent of the share in Albanian insurance company Sigal for an undisclosed sum from other shareholders and increase its share in Sigal and its subsidiaries in Kosovo and Macedonia to around 68.7 percent, the company said in a press release.
“The transaction is still subject to the approval of the responsible authorities. The deal is expected to be closed within the next three to four months,” Uniqa said in a statement.
Uniqa acquired a 46 percent stake in Sigal back in December 2007 when it agreed an option to acquire the majority stake in the insurer at a later stage. Uniqa has also finalized options to purchase the remaining shares over the next few years, it added.
Sigal was the first private insurance company to be set up in Albania, in 1999. Currently, it has a 32.9 percent market share in the country and is present in neighboring Macedonia and in Kosovo via subsidiaries and branches.
In 2008, Sigal generated a total premium volume of 27.7 million euro in its three markets of operations. Its premiums rose by 29 percent on the year to 25.3 million euro in the first nine months of 2009.
The Austrian company already owns part of Sigal. It now becomes majority shareholder with 68.7 percent, while the other major investor, the Albanian American Enterprise Fund, will still keep its 13 percent holdings in Sigal.
“We made it clear right at the beginning of our cooperation with Sigal in 2007 that we wanted to acquire a majority stake in the company by 2010 and secured appropriate options for ourselves. The current step is therefore entirely according to plan and expresses confidence in the economically positive future of the markets of South-Eastern Europe,” said UNIQA CEO Konstantin Klien.
Now that the agreement with the shareholders of the Sigal Group has been concluded, UNIQA also has finalized options to purchase the remaining shares over the next few years, according to the Austrian company.
Sigal has already been operating on the markets of Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo as a member of the UNIQA Group for some time.
“Sigal has used the exchange of experience with the companies of the UNIQA Group outstandingly well within the scope of the existing cooperation and further developed its undisputed position as the number one insurer in Albania by increasing its market share from 28 percent to over 32 percent,” Mr. Klien added. “The ongoing low density of insurers in the three markets, combined with the medium-term positive economic outlooks also gives reason to expect continued disproportionately high growth rates in the insurance industry.”
Sigal was founded in 1999 as the first private insurance company in Albania and apart from Albania also has operational subsidiaries in Kosovo and Macedonia. In 2008, the Group generated a total premium volume in the three markets of EUR 27.7 million.
Most of the premium volume – in line with the market structure – continues to be made up of property and motor vehicle insurance, worth EUR 23.1 million.
Sigal says it has 30.6 of market share in Albania in the non-life line and over 50 percent in life insurance and 32.6 percent in total.
