Aviva Romania has reached an agreement with the majority shareholders of asset management company (SAI) Certinvest, to acquire a 99.8% stake in the company. The transfer of shares will be completed once the approvals from the regulatory institutions have been received.
The majority shareholders of Certinvest are Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF) and Eugen Voicu.
The value of the deal was not made public.
Certinvest is the oldest asset management company in Romania. It was established in 1994 and launched its first mutual fund, Capital Plus, in the same year.
Aviva is the world's oldest life insurance and pension group and has been in this business since 1696. Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF) was established in 1995 by the United States Congress and is an institution that operates in the field of private equity funds and financial advice services for investments in Romania.
"As a result of this acquisition, Aviva will receive 99.8% in Certinvest and will integrate the company into its Romanian operations, along with the already existing life insurance and pension companies," reads an Aviva Romania release.
The general manager of Aviva Romania, Shah Rouf, said that buying Certinvest and having recently established its private pension company will enable Aviva Romania to become a diversified financial service provider.
"Certinvest will be an essential component of our strategy, offering our pension, investment and life insurance clients asset management services. At the same time, Certinvest will continue to develop and become part of the global investment network of Aviva," Rouf said.
Certinvest's general manager Eugen Voicu said that the sum involved in the share transfer was confidential. According to the agreement, Eugen Voicu will retain his position as Certinvest general manager, and report to Shah Rouf, Aviva Romania's top man. "He will also be the investment manager of Aviva Societate de Administrare a unui Fond de Pensii Privat, (Aviva Private Pension Fund Management Company), Aviva Romania's pension company," the release adds.
The acquisition will be finalised by the end of 2007, according to the release.
Certinvest currently manages 24 million euros in four mutual funds, each specialising in a different type of investment: Intercapital - equity fund, Capital Plus - a balanced fund, Orizont - fixed income entrustments (bonds) and Tezaur - a monetary market fund.
The company also manages individual investment accounts for high-income clients.
Aviva is one of the biggest financial groups in the United Kingdom. The group has 59,000 employees and 40 million clients in 27 countries.
Aviva's revenues from insurance premiums and investments amount to 61 billion euros. It manages more than 535 billion euros in funds.
The British group began life insurance operations in Romania in 2000, and now has more than 400,000 Romanian clients in its portfolio.
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