Banca Carpatica after Atlassib Asigurari

Banca Comerciala (Commercial Bank) Carpatica, based in Sibiu, intends to take over insurer Atlassib Asigurari, controlled by Ilie Carabulea, the main shareholder of the bank, this year. Even though he would not provide any details as to how much the deal was worth, Nicolaie Hoanta, Carpatica's president, said it was included in the 2004 investment plan, which is upwards of 2 million euros. Judging by Atlassib Asigurari's rather small market share, the deal could revolve around several tens of thousands of euros. The latest official data, i.e. those for 2002, show the asset of the insurance company to be of 39bn ROL, whilst the gross premiums collected reached 500 million ROL and the gross profit amounted to 1bn ROL. "Th e takeover will be followed by a change in the strategy and name of the insurance company to Carpatica Asig. This decision is part of our policy to promote ourselves as a financial group. We've got the bank, the Carpatica Invest securities firm and now we're getting into insurance," Nicolaie Hoanta told Ziarul Financiar. ZF