Banca Agricola-Raiffeisen has kicked off the sale of the 10% stake it holds in Asirom, the largest insurance company on the Romanian market. The total value of the transaction is estimated at about two million dollars, with the deal to be concluded by the end of January.
Following several months of negotiations, the stake will be acquired by investment fund Broadhurst or by investment funds belonging to the same US group New Century Holdings. Broadhurst already holds 8% in Asirom stock.
The 10% stake will be split and transferred by Banca Agricola to Broadhurst in several stages. The process started last week. A number of 1,446,700 shares were transferred yesterday, for a price of 7,160 ROL/share. The face value of one share stands at 1,000 ROL.
"We made the decision to sell the stake in Asirom because our new strategy stipulates that the bank should own stakes in industries where it holds operational interests, business-related. We reached the conclusion that our presence in the shareholding structure of Asirom was not justified," Eugen Radulescu, president of Banca Agricola-Raiffeisen, told Ziarul Financiar.
"However, our selling the Asirom stake does not mean that we will break contact with this company. We will keep operating insurance contracts," Radulescu added.
Asirom is controlled by businessman Ioan Nicolae, through Interagro and Astra Romana refinery. The other shareholders comprise the state and minor shareholders, beside Banca Agricola-Raiffeisen and Broadhurst.
A share capital increase through contribution in cash took place last month, which changed the shareholding structure. This benefited Ioan Nicolae. APAPS (the Privatisation Authority) had a 17% stake in Asirom, but now its stake went down to six percent.
"This is their own business (i.e. Banca Agricola-Raiffeisen). They sold something that they did not deserve anyway," Ioan Nicolae told Ziarul Financiar.
"Asirom is an open company and its shares can be freely traded on an organised market (i.e. the stock is traded on Rasdaq). Concerning the transaction's value, the value of shares can be influenced by multiple factors, even subjective ones, including the number of traded shares and, consequently, the powers - significant or not - acquired on the issuer. As for the potential decisions - objective or subjective - made by shareholders, they are free to use their rights as they wish, as there is no legal obligation to give a detailed account or a correlative right to issue an opinion, for that matter," says the press office of the insurance company.
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