AXA BUYS MAJORITY STAKE IN BELARUS INSURER

France-based Axa has continued its expansion in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with the acquisition of an 80% stake in Belarus's second-largest insurer, B&B Insurance. The P&C-focused operation has a 10% overall market share, behind only the state-owned leader Belgostrakh, generating €29m in revenue in 2009. It has about 260 exclusive agents. Axa said that the Belarusian market offered it "very significant potential for growth", since less than 20% are covered with casco (voluntary motor) insurance, and less than 15% of households have home insurance. Cyrille de Montgolfier, CEO of Axa CEE, said that "in this market, we would like to replicate AXA's success in Ukraine, where we've become market leader in three years, by leveraging on geographical and cultural ties between the two countries". Axa operates P&C business in CEE through greenfields in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, as well as through a 36.7% participation in Reso-Garantia in Russia and joint-ventures in Ukraine with Ukrsibbank, where it has an 11% market share. The closing of this operation is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to take place in Q1 2011.