Aviva PLC
12 September 2007
News release
12 September 2007
AVIVA ACQUIRES CERTINVEST IN ROMANIA
Aviva plc ('Aviva') has entered into an agreement in Romania to purchase 99.8%
of the shares of Certinvest, a Romanian asset management company, from Eugen
Voicu, the CEO of Certinvest and the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), a
private US corporation.
Certinvest, which had gross assets of €1.1 million (as at 30 June 2007), manages
approximately €24 million in four open-ended funds and also offers individual
investment accounts for high net worth individuals.
Tidjane Thiam, chief executive officer of Aviva Europe, said: 'This acquisition
is part of our European strategy to continually adapt our range of long term
savings products and services to meet our customers' needs. This acquisition
confirms our clear ambitions for growth in Romania and more broadly in Central
and Eastern Europe.'
Pierre-Olivier Bouee, director of Central and Eastern Europe, Aviva, sees the
purchase of Certinvest as a major milestone in the development of Aviva Romania:
'This acquisition enables us to provide high quality asset management services
to our pensions, investment and life insurance clients.
'Over the past few years, the open-ended fund industry in Romania has shown an
annual growth rate of over 50% and we believe that there's considerable
potential for that growth to continue.'
The purchase is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete by
the end of the year.
- ends -
Enquiries:
Media
Sue Winston, head of group media relations +44 (0)20 7662 8221
Vanessa Rhodes, group media relations manager +44 (0)20 7662 2482
James Murgatroyd/Ed Simpkins, Finsbury +44 (0)20 7251 3801
Analysts
Charles Barrows, investor relations director +44 (0)20 7662 8115
Amanda Wilbraham, senior manager, investor relations +44 (0)20 7662 2111
Notes to editors:
• The balance of 0.2% of the share capital will be held by four individuals.
• Certinvest has four open-ended funds, each in a different investment
category: Intercapital, an equity fund, Capital Plus, a balanced fund,
Orizont, a fixed-income fund and Tezaur, a money market fund.
• The Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), established in 1995 by the
U.S. Congress, is a leading institution in private equity and investment
banking/advisory services in Romania.
• Aviva began life insurance operations in Romania in 2000 and now insures
over 400,000 Romanians. In August Aviva received regulatory approval to
establish a private pensions administrator and is now awaiting final
regulatory clearances to participate in the mandatory pensions market when
it begins on 17 September 2007.
• Aviva is the leading provider of life and pensions to Europe with
substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the
world's fifth largest insurance group based on gross worldwide premiums at
31 December 2006.
• Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management
and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £41.5 billion and
assets under management of £364 billion at 31 December 2006.
• The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media includes images, company and
product information and a news release archive.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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