12th Sep 2007 09:00
Aviva PLC12 September 2007 News release 12 September 2007 AVIVA ACQUIRES CERTINVEST IN ROMANIA Aviva plc ("Aviva") has entered into an agreement in Romania to purchase 99.8%of the shares of Certinvest, a Romanian asset management company, from EugenVoicu, the CEO of Certinvest and the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), aprivate US corporation. Certinvest, which had gross assets of €1.1 million (as at 30 June 2007), managesapproximately €24 million in four open-ended funds and also offers individualinvestment accounts for high net worth individuals. Tidjane Thiam, chief executive officer of Aviva Europe, said: "This acquisitionis part of our European strategy to continually adapt our range of long termsavings products and services to meet our customers' needs. This acquisitionconfirms our clear ambitions for growth in Romania and more broadly in Centraland Eastern Europe." Pierre-Olivier Bouee, director of Central and Eastern Europe, Aviva, sees thepurchase of Certinvest as a major milestone in the development of Aviva Romania:"This acquisition enables us to provide high quality asset management servicesto our pensions, investment and life insurance clients. "Over the past few years, the open-ended fund industry in Romania has shown anannual growth rate of over 50% and we believe that there's considerablepotential for that growth to continue." The purchase is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete bythe end of the year. - ends - Enquiries: Media Sue Winston, head of group media relations +44 (0)20 7662 8221Vanessa Rhodes, group media relations manager +44 (0)20 7662 2482James Murgatroyd/Ed Simpkins, Finsbury +44 (0)20 7251 3801 Analysts Charles Barrows, investor relations director +44 (0)20 7662 8115Amanda Wilbraham, senior manager, investor relations +44 (0)20 7662 2111 Notes to editors: • The balance of 0.2% of the share capital will be held by four individuals. • Certinvest has four open-ended funds, each in a different investment category: Intercapital, an equity fund, Capital Plus, a balanced fund, Orizont, a fixed-income fund and Tezaur, a money market fund. • The Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), established in 1995 by the U.S. Congress, is a leading institution in private equity and investment banking/advisory services in Romania. • Aviva began life insurance operations in Romania in 2000 and now insures over 400,000 Romanians. In August Aviva received regulatory approval to establish a private pensions administrator and is now awaiting final regulatory clearances to participate in the mandatory pensions market when it begins on 17 September 2007. • Aviva is the leading provider of life and pensions to Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the world's fifth largest insurance group based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2006. • Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £41.5 billion and assets under management of £364 billion at 31 December 2006. • The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media includes images, company and product information and a news release archive. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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