German insurance group Gothaer recently took over Romanian insurance company Platinum Asigurări Reasigurări, which will become Gothaer Asigurări Reasigurări.

Via the deal, the German insurance company has expanded in the Central and Eastern Europe region. The company targets gross subscribed premiums of EUR 60 million by 2017 in Romania, from a current level of EUR 8.4 million. It plans to invest some EUR 15 million in developing the Romanian subsidiary and in the next five years, add over 250 jobs. It also plans to add subsidiaries in the main Romanian cities, according to Anca Băbăneaţă, CEO Gothaer Asigurări Reasigurări (in picture).

The company targets a key position on the non-life insurance segment in Romania in the following five years, said Jürgen Meisch, CFO of Gothaer. In the beginning, Gothaer will offer home, car and health insurance, as well as some new products for entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises and employees. One such novelty is an insurance policy catered to the renewable energy market. Its focus will be retail clients and small and medium enterprises.

Gothaer – the former Platinum- currently has 150 employees in Romania and had gross subscribed premiums of EUR 8.4 million in 2012, after EUR 4.3 million in 2011.

Gothaer Finanzholding AG took over 67 percent of the shares in Platinum, with the rest being equally held by Constantin Toma, president of the board with Gothaer Asigurări Reasigurări – who sold the 67 percent stake to Gothaer, and Efraim Naimer, member of the board. Toma initially sold Platinum to Vienna Insurance group but later retook control of the company.

Internationally, Gothaer has over 3.5 million clients and EUR 4 billion in subscribed gross premiums.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: the company)