AXA Central & Eastern Europe announced today the acquisition of 80% of Belarusian 2nd largest insurer (and 1st private insurer) B&B Insurance. With this operation, AXA pursues its expansion in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), one of its key growth areas.
B&B Insurance is focused on the property & casualty insurance market, where it enjoys a 10% market share overall (€29 million revenues in 2009) and a voluntary market share between 20% and 40% depending on business lines. This performance is supported by a network of ca. 260 exclusive agents.
Belarusian insurance market offers AXA a very significant potential for growth, as less than 20% are covered with casco insurance and less than 15% of households benefit from a home insurance.
Cyrille de Montgolfier, CEO of AXA Central & Eastern Europe, said: “The acquisition of B&B is an excellent opportunity for AXA to enter a fast developing Belarusian market. In this market, we would like to replicate AXA’s success in Ukraine, where we’ve become market leader in 3 years, by leveraging on geographical and cultural ties between the two countries.”
The closing of this operation is subject to, amongst others, regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in the first quarter 2011.
Source : AXA Press Release
