18 June 2008

Commission clears acquisition of insurance subsidiaries of Austria's Erste Bank by Vienna Insurance Group

In view of the remedies offered by the parties, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

The Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the insurance subsidiaries of Austria's Erste Bank by Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), subject to commitments to divest Bank Austria Creditanstalt Versicherung AG (BACAV) in Austria and Unita in Romania. In view of the remedies offered by the parties, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

 

In Austria, the proposed transaction would have given VIG around 40% market share, almost double the size of its nearest competitor, Uniqa. The Commission was particularly concerned by its post-merger strength in the key banking distribution channel, where two out of the three big Austrian retail banks would have distributed VIG's life insurance products almost exclusively.

 

Press release

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