Polish Unilink, the main player on the Polish insurance market, reached an agreement to buy an 80% stake of Romanian market leader Safety Insurance Broker from its founder and main shareholder, Viorel Vasile, as a step towards building the largest insurance sales platform in Central and Eastern Europe.

Earlier in September, Unilink took over the largest Bulgarian player, I&G Insurance Brokers, also buying an 80% stake.  At that time, Unilink was operating exclusively on the Polish market.

"Our strategy is to take over the largest insurance distributors in our key markets in the Central and Eastern European region," says Igor Rusinowski, founder and president of Unilink.

Safety Insurance Broker operates the largest insurance distribution chain in Romania, with a market share of approximately 8%. It also operates in the Republic of Moldova. Viorel Vasile will keep 15% of the shares, the remaining 5% being in the possession of Robert Nita, the company's chief legal officer.

"The transaction will be completed somewhere in the middle of next year, probably in June, after the necessary approvals are obtained from the Competition Council and ASF," Viorel Vasile told Profit.ro.

Viorel Vasile will maintain his CEO position after the deal.

Unilink Group expects total insurance premiums of over EUR 650 mln this year, which will place it at the top of the insurance retail market ranking in Central and Eastern Europe. 

(Photo: Pixabay)

andrei@romania-insider.com