Axa, Aegon, Sompo eye Finans Emeklilik

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Ajlan Sözütek, the general manager of Finans Emeklilik, is seen in this file photo. Insurance giants eye acquiring the firm.

French Axa, Dutch Aegon and Japanese Sompo are among the foreign insurance companies interested in acquiring Finansbank’s Finans Emeklilik ve Hayat, according to Reuters.

Finanbank made an announcement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange that it planned to weight strategic alternatives for the sale of its Finans Emeklilik shares on Oct. 13.

Sompo entered the Turkish market in November 2010, when it purchased all of Fiba Holding’s Fiba Sigorta shares. Axa, however, has been active in Turkey for a long time under the name of Axa Sigorta. Axa Turkey’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Henri de Castries announced last year that Axa wanted to grow in the Turkish market, according to news portal NTVMSNBC.

Aegon has also been in Turkey since July 2008 and has purchased all of Ankara Emeklilik. Similar to Axa, Aegon’s CEO Alex Wynaendts also said last year that Aegeon wanted to grow in Turkey, Poland and Hungary.