Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has agreed with the Hungarian government on the state acquisition of 45 percent of the shares in the insurance companies Aegon and Union Vienna Insurance Group Biztosító Zrt.
The agreement relates to the implementation of an agreement under which VIG signed an agreement with Aegon NV to acquire the Dutch insurance business in Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Turkey. This agreement was concluded on November 29, 2020. In addition to Aegon’s insurance companies, VIG is to acquire pension funds, asset management, and service companies. Aegon, at the time of the deal, ranked third in the non-life insurance market in Hungary and seventh in the life insurance market.
On April 6, Hungary’s Interior Ministry informed VIG that it would not approve the acquisition of Aegon’s local companies. The European Commission agreed to the takeover in August, and in September a complaint against the Hungarian Interior Ministry’s decision brought by VIG and Aegon was dismissed by the Budapest Metropolitan Court. Eventually, an agreement was reached. The value of the transaction is EUR 830 million.
The principles of cooperation including the controlling stake and operational management by VIG are subject to further negotiations. The Hungarian government has designated the state-controlled holding company Corvinus Nemzetközi Befektetési Zrt. as its negotiating partner.
