CROATIA’S GRAWE ADVERTISES INTENDED MERGER WITH LOCAL RIVALS

Three Croatian insurers have revealed plans to merge, pending approval by their respective shareholders at simultaneous meetings on March 26. GRAWE Croatia, a unit of Austrian life group GRAWE, has advertised in the Croatian press that it intends to take over Adria Osiguranje and Slavonija Osiguranje, creating a company with 73.4m kuna in market capital. The move is seen as a response to increasing competition in a local insurance market dominated by state-owned insurer Croatia Osiguranje, with a market share of 55%. In 1999 GRAWE was the sixth-largest insurer in the Croatian market, with over 4% of business.