Axa Central & Eastern Europe has acquired 80% stake in Belarusian insurer B&B Insurance.
With this operation, Axa pursues its expansion in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), one of its key growth areas.
B&B Insurance is focused on the property & casualty insurance market, where it has a 10% market share overall and a voluntary market share between 20% and 40% depending on business lines.
AXA Central & Eastern Europe CEO Cyrille de Montgolfier said that the acquisition of B&B is an opportunity for AXA to enter a fast developing Belarusian market.
"In this market, we would like to replicate Axa’s success in Ukraine, where we’ve become market leader in three years, by leveraging on geographical and cultural ties between the two countries," Montgolfier said.
The closing of this operation is subject to, amongst others, regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2011.