Having obtained all official approvals, the UNIQA Group has acquired 100% of the equity in Romania's fourth-largest non-life insurance company, UNITA, from its previous owner, the Vienna Insurance Group, the company said. The transaction was completed on Monday, 3 November 2008.

The acquisition of UNITA marks a major step forwards for us in our expansion into Eastern Europe, UNIQA CEO Konstantin Klien commented. With around 22 million inhabitants, Romania is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets in the CEE region.

We will be discussing our plans for further development of UNITA with local management in the coming days and will jointly discuss the ideal strategy for utilizing the high potential for growth. As the new owners of UNITA, we will naturally be paying special attention to close cooperation with the local Raiffeisenbank as part of our collaboration throughout this geographical area, Klien said.

Founded in 1990, UNITA is one of the largest non-life insurance companies in Romania, with a market share of around 6.5%. The company, with its headquarters in Bucharest, achieved a premium volume of 142 mln euros in 2007, employs around 850 people and manages more than 550,000 customers - of which around 480,000 are private individuals.

Sales are made via a comprehensive network of over 41 branch offices, 500 sales employees and more than 7,000 agents, and via around 260 brokers and leasing companies.

With around 22 million inhabitants, Romania is one of the three largest markets in the CEE region and one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU. The insurance industry has grown rapidly in recent years - the total premium volume has nominally increased seven-fold since 2001 - and offers extraordinarily high potential compared to Western Europe or other countries in Eastern Europe.

The thirty-seven insurance companies operating in Romania in 2007 achieved a premium volume of 2.191 bln euros, up 35% yea ron year. Non-life insurance accounted for around 80% of the figure.