Belgian Group To Pay Us$220 Mln For 31% Stake In Turkish Insurer

A Belgian insurance group will pay US$220 million for a 31 per cent stake in Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding's Aksigorta insurance unit, the holding's CEO said on Wednesday.

Sabanci Holding CEO Zafer Kurtul said that Belgian insurance group Ageas would pay US$220 million for a 31 per cent stake in Aksigorta, one of Turkey's biggest non-life insurers, buying half the stake now held by Sabanci. The remaining 38 per cent of stakes was open to the public, he said. The legal process regarding the partnership has been completed.

Kurtul said that they, Sabanci Holding and Ageas, would fulfill future strategies of Aksigorta together.

"We consider that our country has a great growth potential. We have reached the level of national income before economic crisis. Public balances did not spoil. The budget yielded surplus in June. They are the factors supporting our growth plans for the future. There is political and economic stability in Turkey. It has a young population. We are like a bridge between Asia, Europe and Middle East. All these factors make our country an attractive one for foreign investment," he said.

Aksigorta had premium income of 886 million TL (US$562m) in 2010 and a market share of 8 per cent. The deal includes a 15-year distribution agreement with Akbank, part of the Sabanci group, which has one of Turkey's biggest bank branch networks.

Ageas is a multinational insurance company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and Utrecht, Netherlands. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 14 countries worldwide. The company was renamed from Fortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insurance activities remaining after the breakup and sale of the financial services group Fortis during the financial crisis of 2007-2010. It is listed on the Euronext Brussels, Euronext Amsterdam, and Luxembourg stock exchanges and forms part of the blue-chip BEL20 stock market index.