AXA and BNP Paribas Extend Their Partnership to Take the 3rd Place on the Ukrainian Property & Casualty Insurance Market
July 27 2007 - 3:50AM
PR Newswire (US)
PARIS, July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AXA and UkrSibbank, the
Ukrainian banking subsidiary of BNP Paribas, announced today that
they have reached an agreement to acquire 99% of the share capital
of Vesko, Ukraine's 6th largest P&C insurer. Vesko's revenues
for 2006 of $28 million were well balanced between individual and
commercial lines and between proprietary and non-proprietary
distribution. In June 2007, AXA and UkrSibbank agreed to join
forces in the Ukrainian P&C insurance market, establishing a
joint-venture called Ukrainian Insurance Alliance (UIA)(1). The
consolidation of Vesko and UIA's market shares will give AXA and
BNP Paribas the 3rd place (ca. 7% market share) on the fast growing
Ukrainian market. Both companies will be held jointly by AXA and
UkrSibbank and both will be under the management control of AXA.
Completion of this transaction is subject to the customary
regulatory approvals and is expected to take place before the end
of 2007. About AXA AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial
Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with major
operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. For
full year 2006, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 79 billion and IFRS
adjusted earnings amounted to Euro 5,140 million. The AXA ordinary
share is listed and trades under the symbol AXA on the Paris Stock
Exchange. The AXA American Depository Share is also listed on the
NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA. About BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is
a European leader in banking and financial services, and ranks
among the world's top 15 banks by market capitalization. It has 150
000 employees, almost 120 000 of whom are based in Europe. The
group occupies leading positions in three significant fields of
activity: Corporate and Investment Banking, Asset Management &
Services and Retail Banking. It is present in 85 countries and has
a strong presence in all the key financial centres. Present
throughout Europe, in all its business lines, France and Italy are
its two domestic markets in retail banking. BNP Paribas enjoys a
significant and growing presence in the United States and leading
positions in Asia and in emerging markets. About JSCIB UkrSibbank,
the Ukrainian retail subsidiary of BNP Paribas (which controls 51%
of the bank), is the 3rd largest bank in Ukraine by assets. The
bank employs 10 500 people in Ukraine and has nearly 1 million
individual customers and 69,000 corporate customers. Its regional
network currently amounts to 1 000 branches throughout Ukraine.
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION Certain statements contained herein are
forward-looking statements including, but not limited to,
statements that are predications of or indicate future events,
trends, plans or objectives. Undue reliance should not be placed on
such statements because, by their nature, they are subject to known
and unknown risks and uncertainties. Please refer to AXA's Annual
Report on Form 20-F and AXA's Document de Reference for the year
ended December 31, 2006, for a description of certain important
factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA's business. In
particular, please refer to the section "Special Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements" in AXA's Annual Report on Form 20-F.
AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of
these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new
information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. (1)
Transaction subject to regulatory approvals and expected to take
place before year-end DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: investors,
Etienne Bouas Laurent, +33-1-40-75-46-85, Paul- Antoine Cristofari,
+33-1-40-75-73-60, Emmanuel Touzeau, +33-1-40-45-49-05, Kevin
Molloy, +1-212-314-2893; media, Christophe Dufraux,
+33-1-40-75-46-74, Clara Rodrigo, +33-1-40-75-47-22, Armelle
Vercken, +33-1-40-75-46-42, Mary Taylor, +1-212-314-5845, all of
AXA; or Christelle Maldague, +33-1-42-98-56-48, , Gerardo
Tommasiello, +33-1-55-77-55-14, , both of BNP Paribas; or Lilija
Bevzjuk, +38 (044) 537-49-18, , Tatjana Shikerjavaja, +38 (044)
201-22-71, , Victoria Pashevskaja, +38 (044) 201-22-71, , Yulia
Kilmukhametova, +38 (044) 201-22-71, , all of UkrSibbank Web site:
http://www.axa-equitable.com/
Copyright