Joining a worldwide surge in initial public
offering (IPOs), PZU Group, Poland’s largest composite insurer, has
filed a prospectus ahead of a listing scheduled for May.
The IPO of state-controlled PZU is anticipated
to see Poland’s State Treasury offer between 5% and 10% of PZU’s
issued shares and Dutch insurer Eureko, 17%.
Go deeper with GlobalData
For Eureko, which has a 33% stake in PZU, the
IPO marks the next step in the unwinding of an unhappy relationship
with Poland’s government. PZU acquired its stake in PZU in 1999 and
two years later a dispute arose over the Polish government’s
refusal to honour an agreement to sell Eureko an additional 21%
stake in PZU.
The dispute was settled in October 2009 when
Eureko agreed to accept as compensation €1.9bn ($2.9bn) in the form
of an ordinary and special dividend from PZU.
In addition, Eureko will receive a further
PLN1.22bn ($430m) from the treasury following PZU’s IPO. Eureko has
indicated that following the IPO it plans a complete, gradual
disinvestment of its remaining stake in PZU.
In 2009, PZU reported life premium income of
PLN13.02bn, 24.2% down on 2008. PZU’s general insurance premium
income fell 4.9% to PLN8.43bn.
From a profit perspective, however, PZU
performed well, reporting a net profit of PLN3.76bn, up 61%
compared with 2008 and its highest net profit.
