Adamescu buys SIFs'' stake in Astra

Businessman Dan Adamescu, the majority shareholder of Astra Asigurari, has reached an agreement with the SIFs that had challenged a capital increase performed by the insurance company, thus threatening the deal whereby the businessman had sold 27% to the Austrians at Uniqa in June. Through Nova Trade, Adamescu bought more than 3.7% in Astra from three SIFs, for which he paid nearly 2.12 million euros (over 7.73 million RON). He will get the stake of a fourth SIF in a matter of days. "We bought," Dan Adamescu, the owner of Nova Trade that holds 67.67% in Astra, said, confirming the deal on Tuesday. Back in September 2003, Nova Trade increased its stake in Astra from 75.7% to 94.7%, by contribution in kind, in the form of an office building, an operation the SIFs challenged. Now that they have sold their stakes, the SIFs (Banat-Crisana, Moldova, Muntenia and Transilvania) cannot continue the litigation because they are no longer shareholders. ZF