Bosnia's Central Osiguranje, ASA Osiguranje seeking shareholders' nod for merger

The shareholders of each of the two companies will vote on the planned transaction at separate meetings scheduled on January 16, the insurers said in filings lodged with the Sarajevo Stock Exchange (SASE) on Monday.

Earlier this year, local financial services company ASA Finance raised its stake in Central Osiguranje to 95% from 86.48%, local news outlet Indikator reported.

ASA Finance owned 80% of ASA Osiguranje as of December 23, bourse data showed. The remaining 20% stake was controlled by local reinsurer Bosna Re.

ASA Osiguranje's shares have not traded on the SASE in the past year.

ASA Osiguranje recorded gross written premiums (GWP) of 47 million marka ($25.6 million/24 million euro) in the January-November period, up 11.4% year-on-year, according to figures posted on the website of the Federation’s insurance supervision agency. Central Osiguranje's GWP reached 37 million marka in the same period, up 7.1% on the year.

The Federation is one of two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serb Republic is the other one.

(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)