July 4 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian competition authority said on Tuesday it has granted approval to Sofia-based Life Insurance Institute to absorb local peer Health Insurance Institute.
The merger does not represent concentration of business under Bulgarian law, as the two companies have the same owner, the Commission for Protection of Competition said in a statement.
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Sofia-based insurance company Lev Ins owns 86% of Health Insurance Institute.
Lev Ins also holds a 49.08% stake in the capital of Life Insurance Institute. The other major shareholder in Life Insurance Institute is Lev Corporation, which owns 49.63%.
Both Lev Ins and Lev Corporation are under the indirect control of Iva Pavlova, a local entrepreneur, the competition regulator noted.
Health Insurance Institute offers accident and illness insurance. It has a registered capital of 5 million levs ($2.9 million/2.8 million euro), according to the country’s commercial register.
Life Insurance Institute offers accident and illness insurance, as well as life insurance. The company has a registered capital of 7.7 million levs.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)