After fostering its leadership position as foreign insurer in Russia, Allianz is now entering the Kazakh insurance market by acquiring 100 percent of the shares in ATF-Polis from ATF-Bank. The parties involved have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction.
ATF-Polis is one of the top five insurance companies in Kazakhstan with gross premiums written of 42 million US dollars in 2006. The company is active in property/casualty lines and has a well developed sales network – both in the metropolitan as well as regional areas.
The insurer will continue to benefit from the distribution capacity of ATF-Bank as one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan as laid down by a bancassurance agreement. Furthermore, the recent acquisition of ATF-Bank by the Italian bank Unicredit will allow Allianz to extend the longstanding partnership with Unicredit in the Kazakhstan market.
Market entry in Kazakhstan
Enormous growth potential in the CIS region
"The entry into the Kazakhstan market is driven by the dynamic development of the countries’ economy and financial services market as well as by our good relationship to the Kazakh authorities and the financial institutions. This market plays an important role in the CIS which shows enormous potential of growth. By entering Kazakhstan now we will ensure our position in this interesting market", commented Werner Zedelius, board member of Allianz SE, responsible for growth markets, regarding this move.
"Being one of the leading insurance service providers worldwide combined with long industry experience, Allianz will give ATF-Polis a new push on the development by implementing state-of-the art technologies and strengthening the insurer’s position in the Kazakhstan insurance market. At the same time us (ATF-Bank) and ATF-Polis will remain partners and will continue our mutually beneficial cooperation as laid down by agreements between both companies" added Talgat Kuanishev, CEO of ATF-Bank.
Allianz's third CIS country
With this acquisition Allianz is undertaking a major step in entering the third CIS country, after Russia and Ukraine, and will participate significantly in one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the CIS region. In 2006 the Kazakh insurance market had a volume of 600 million US dollars and is estimated to grow to two billion US dollars by 2010. After Russia and Ukraine, Kazakhstan has the third largest economy in the CIS region and a population of 15 million people. Due to the highly dynamic economic development of the recent past, enormous growth potential and rapidly evolving markets for insurance services combined with low penetration, the insurance market in Kazakhstan provides tremendous opportunities.
"This transaction enables us to access different client segments in Kazakhstan and to provide our customers with a whole new range of products which will complement existing ATF-Polis products. They will benefit from our local knowledge and international expertise", said Hannes S. Chopra, CEO of Allianz Eurasia, responsible for all CIS markets.
About ATF-Polis
ATF-Polis was established in 1999 as part of the ATF financial group and is one of the top five insurance companies in Kazakhstan based on 2006 statistics. The insurer has a country wide presence in the 16 largest cities of Kazakhstan and a well balanced portfolio and distribution channels structure.
As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our Forward Looking Statement disclaimer.
Link to the disclaimer