Generali reps may join Ingosstrakh board of directors - source
MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) - Representatives from Generali may be on the board of directors at Ingosstrakh elected at the insurance company's AGM, an insurance market source told Interfax.
"At the present time the finalizing has begun of a deal announced in the early part of January 2013 by Assicurazioni Generali and Generali PPF Holding (GPH, a joint venture with the investment group PPF Group Nov) for the acquisition of 49% of the joint venture for 2.5 billion euros," the source said.
Candidates for the new Ingosstrakh board will be discussed at the AGM slated for the end of March. "Whether the mooted candidates from Generali will be on it depends on how much movement on the deal for the exchange of stakes in Ingosstrakh and PPF Group (one of a package of deals between Generali and PPF) is made by that time," the source said.
At the beginning of this month, the parties to the deal issued a statement that talked about a package of deals in the context of this strategic two-stage agreement for the period until 2014, the source said.
"In the framework of this package of deals figures agreement on an exchange of several assets, on its own kind of 'barter.' In the framework of this separate agreement, which addresses part of the large deal, there is agreement on an exchange of a joint minority share stake in Ingosstrakh (38.5% of the stock) for a stake of 27.5% in the company, whose main assets are assets in the energy sector - PPF Partners. At the beginning of January, PPF representatives officially announced the shifting of the emphasis of their interests to the zone of the energy sector in countries of Central and Eastern Europe," the source said.
"PPF Partners has assets of a Slovakian gas company (a stake of 49%) and is now showing interest in involvement in a tender announced in relation to the national operator of the Czech gas-distribution system Net4Gaz," the source said.
The founders of PPF Partners were PPF Group (72.5%) and the company Assicurazioni Generali (27.5%). PPF Partners' main attention is focused on markets in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
"As a result of the implementation of the package of deals with Generali PPF is increasing its stake in PPF Partners and Generali is as a result fully withdrawing from this organization and receiving a minority stake in Ingosstrakh, which is 38.5% and through three companies right now is controlled by PPF," the source said.
"In the framework of a global deal is agreement also on the distribution of the profits of Generali to PPF Holding in dividends for the period 2013 and 2014. According to the agreements, sixty percent of the profits received for this period will be put into dividends to members of the holding representing PPF," the source said.
Furthermore, a framework deal between Assicurazioni Generali and PPF Group Nov unifying the package of agreements envisions the payment of about EUR 350 million in dividends. Of that, EUR 170 million will go to PPF.
The parameters of this framework agreement were published at the beginning of this year. The overall cost of the acquisition of 49% by Assicurazioni Generali in the JV with PPF was put at EUR 2.5 billion.
Generali will buy half of this stake for EUR 1.29 billion by March 28 and acquire the remainder by the end of 2014, a company statement released earlier said. The insurer will finance the first part of the deal, in part with bonds issued in December.
GPH was set up in 2017 by Assicurazioni Generali (51%) and PPF Group (49%). GPH is a holding company that operates in fourteen countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It is registered in the Netherlands and headquartered in Prague.