Aegon and BRE Bank have entered into exclusive negotiations on a possible merger of their two Polish pension funds, PTE Ergo Hestia SA and PTE Skarbiec-Emerytura SA. As part of these discussions, BRE Bank would grant Aegon the option to acquire BRE Bank's shareholding in the merged pension funds. The final agreements would be subject to approvals from the Polish Financial Supervision Commission (KNF) and the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP). Currently, BRE Bank owns 100 percent of the shares and voting rights in PTE Skarbiec-Emerytura, which manages the accounts of over 440,000 members*.
Aegon completed its acquisition of PTE Ergo Hestia, which has over 370,000 members*, on March 30 of this year.
Negotiations with BRE Bank are part of a broader strategy for Aegon to expand its presence in the fast-growing markets of Central and Eastern Europe.
Gábor Kepecs, CEO of Aegon CEE commented: "We are very pleased to have reached this phase in our discussions with BRE Bank. This transaction would strengthen our overall position in the Polish market and emphasizes Aegon's focus on the Central and Eastern European region, especially in the field of pensions."
Aegon currently has pension and life insurance operations in four countries in the region - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - and a total of over 1.2 million pension fund members across Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, last January, the Group signed a joint venture agreement with Banca Transilvania to start operations in Romania later this year.
* Source: KNF, April 27, 2007
