Poland. Biggest insurer PZU to spend EUR 1.5-1.7bn on acquisitions in Europe
2012-03-16 10:30:15
Poland's biggest insurer PZU is ready to spend PLN 6-7bn (EUR 1.5-1.7bn) on acquisitions of European insurance companies and would like to find a financial partner who would help to beef up the takeover funds to around PLN 13bn (EUR 3.1bn), according to the company's president Andrzej Klesyk.
PZU wants to set up a subsidiary, dubbed PZU International, which will carry out the acquisition scheme. PZU is interested only in European insurers, the president stressed. After its gross written premium reaches PLN 1.5-2.0bn, it will be floated on the Warsaw Stock Exchange itself.
Klesyk said that PZU plans to pick 203 private equity funds that could join these plans. Apart from PZU and the fund (or funds), PZU International's shareholders would include an international financial institution, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).