Peter Höfinger
The Austrian insurance giant informs about it on its official resource. The Moldovan authorities, in general, do not hide the fact of the forthcoming deal either. The efforts made to sell “net assets” to a strategic investor and to return corporate governance to the company remain behind the brackets. Negotiations with a potential investor have been going on for more than a year.
This is the second time the state has acted as a savior of Moldasig insurance business. The first time was when the disgraced oligarch Veaceslav Platon, who was released from prison, tried to regain control over the company and the money invested in it. But the “raider seizure” failed.
The NCFM was the first to intervene, having secured political support. The nominal stake of unscrupulous shareholders was expropriated, the shares were canceled and issued again as “nobody’s”. And later they were put up for trading on the regulated market of the Stock Exchange. According to the regulatory procedure, Vyacheslav Platon, represented by nominal owners, is still the ultimate beneficiary of a potential deal on their sale. But nobody needed the “speckled package”. Although many people looked at it.
The company was eventually deprived of “corporate governance”, but continued to operate under the leadership of the state administrator, surrendering its position as a once leading participant of the insurance market. Since then, the dubious stake has undergone significant devaluation in the course of repeated and unsuccessful bidding. Now it is traded at the price of 137.5 million lei, which is more than twice lower than the value of the company’s net assets. The time allotted for its sale is expiring, and the company, having bought it out, will go bankrupt and exit the stage definitively. Therefore, the second operation “Rescue” was urgently activated.
All this time the government did not stop worrying about the fate of the insurance company, negotiating with an Austrian investor about a possible deal. The investor demanded government guarantees for a clean deal. Negotiations started in 2022, and a little later the government moved from words to deeds. Since only banks could use government guarantees in the sale, it was necessary to amend the Law on the Management and Denationalization of Public Property to include insurance companies as well. И … take the fire. The changes were made back in 2023, the mechanism has only been launched now.
The state seems to have coped with the task of “correctly selling”, declaring the existence of public interest in the insurer and providing state guarantees through the acquisition of shares in its ownership. The assets will be “cleaned up” in the following way.
The draft governmental decision envisages the procedure of preliminary purchase by the government represented by the Public Property Agency of 80% of shares in a single package with its subsequent sale to a strategic investor, approved by the NBM. Thus, the block will be put back to public auction of the Stock Exchange at the initial purchase price, plus the expenses incurred during the transaction. Only VIG has received preliminary approval from the NBM.
Peter Höfinger, Deputy CEO of VIG and responsible member of the Board of Directors regarding the proposed acquisition:
– This transaction is the result of a multi-stage negotiation process initiated by the Moldovan state acquiring more than 80 percent of the company’s shares.
Vienna Insurance Group’s turnover now exceeds 15 billion € in 30 countries in the Central and Eastern Europe region. At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has applied for the acquisition of 80 percent of MOLDASIG S.A. (Moldasig) shares. The purpose of the transaction is to increase the stability and risk protection of the insurance industry.
We welcome the government’s decision to attract international investors who will seek to accelerate the local economy. As a market leader in the CEE region, VIG brings in-depth knowledge that takes insurance protection to the next level.
The attractiveness of Moldova’s economy is steadily growing. With this planned investment, we express our confidence in Moldova’s EU accession path and will further develop the local insurance market for the benefit of our clients.
In Moldova, VIG capital has been present in IC Donaris Viena Grup since 2014. After the acquisition of Moldasig with 16% coverage of the insurance market, VIG will become the clear leader of the Moldovan market with a market share of about 30%. The National Bank of Moldova has already approved VIG as a potential buyer of Moldasig.
VIG now plans to integrate Moldasig into its group and utilize its expertise and infrastructure to expand its operations in the region. In particular, the company intends to focus on the development of new insurance products and services, as well as on improving operational efficiency”.
