Mircea Lucescu (coach of Turkish soccer team Besiktas) is about to sell his insurance business to Eurom Bank and Blocul National Sindical (National Union Block - BNS). The coach who takes no chances on the field is no longer willing to risk his money in insurer Croma, either.
"Croma is about to be taken over by BNS and Eurom Bank. We will make the official announcement in two days, since there are still certain formalities that must be dealt with," BNS leader Dumitru Costin yesterday told Ziarul Financiar.
The president of Eurom Bank would not say anything about the transaction, while Mircea Lucescu could not be reached for comment. However, Razvan Lucescu said negotiations were almost completed. "The talks are close to an end. But I only know of Eurom Bank," said the son of Mircea Lucescu. On the other hand, Croma sources only know of negotiations with BNS. According to the quoted sources, talks only started recently.
Mircea Lucescu went into the insurance business in 1997 and invested several hundred thousand dollars. Croma doubled sales every year, but losses also posted hefty increases. In 2001, the company cashed gross premiums worth 1.5 million dollars and logged losses of more than 400,000 dollars. The insurer expects to cash almost three million dollars this year and to cut losses down to zero. The company mainly sells auto civil liability policies and Casco (car theft and damage) to clients such as Uzinexport and Mecanoexportimport (foreign trade companies that used to hold the monopoly in various fields before 1989).
Lucescu did not make use of his soccer connections or influence for his own business. "You should know that very few insurance policies were sold in the soccer circles - to clubs such as Dinamo or Rapid (i.e. where Lucescu used to work)," Croma sources say.
Despite its sales increases, Croma did not become a big name on the insurance market and neither did it attain a significant position among the other companies: less than 1% market share every year. Consequently, the management was changed six months ago.
"Because of the expansion, it was very difficult for the company to be sustained by only one shareholder, a natural person. We needed a capital inflow," the quoted sources say.
Croma shareholders include Mircea Lucescu (93%), Nemira Group (a publishing house where Lucescu holds a significant stake), Nely Voyages (a travel agency owned by the wife of Mircea Lucescu).
The Romanian coach was right about the potential of this market (Romanians spend only 15-20 dollars per year on the average for insurance, as compared to more than 1,500 dollars in Italy or Germany), but he is little likely to get big money out of it.
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