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EBRD exits from Baltic insurance companies
The EBRD has sold its shares in the insurance companies AAS Balta, Latvia, and
AB Lietuvos Draudimas, Lithuania. The Bank’s stakes of 24 per cent in Balta
and 21.63 per cent in Lietuvos Draudimas are being sold to the majority
shareholder, Codan A/S, the Danish subsidiary of the UK insurer Royal and Sun
Alliance.
The EBRD acquired its stake in Balta in 2001 and made its first equity
investment in Lietuvos Draudimas in 2000 together with the Investment Fund for
Central and Eastern Europe. This Danish investment fund is now also selling
its shares in both companies to Codan.
Balta is the largest non-life insurance company in Latvia with a market share
of 24 per cent in 2005. Lietuvos Draudimas is the market leader in Lithuania
with a 35 per cent-market share last year.
Jonathan Woollett, EBRD Director of Non-Banking Financial Institutions, said
the successful development of both companies was evidence that the Bank had
fulfilled its tasks and it was therefore the right time to exit from these
investments. The EBRD, however, remains committed to supporting Latvia and
Lithuania with their remaining transition challenges, especially in the
financial sector.
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