VTB found two applicants for the purchase of « Rosgosstrakh »

VTB (MoEx: Vtbr) I found two buyers at Rosgosstrakh, which could not sell since 2022. The bank does not disclose the name, but with a high probability it will be industrial and financial groups with insurance companies. Among the most likely applicants, experts indicate the group « Region » and « Baltic Leasing ». Rosgosstrakh will strengthen the buyer’s capabilities in the insurance market, but will require additional investments for integration.

VTB found two applicants for the purchase of Rosgosstrakh (RGS), said the chairman of the Bank of Andrei Kostin at a meeting with VTB Private Banking clients on April 24. “We at one time sold“ VTB insurance ”Sogaz, and now we want to sell Rosgosstrakh, because the insurance business itself is very difficult, requiring great attention. And I think that it will be right all the same-to give professional insurers into the hands of, ”explained Mr. Kostin (quote for Interfax). Rosgosstrakh became part of the VTB group as part of the transaction for the purchase of ACTOCE Assets at the end of 2022 (cm. « Kommersant » dated December 27, 2022). In VTB and RGS did not respond to the request “Kommersant”.

Rosgosstrakh may be interested in large participants in the insurance market, experts say. Among them are market participants as Sogaz or Sberbelown, “to increase the market share and implement synergies in business, which can lead to optimizing management costs and investments,” explains the investment strategist of the Aricapital Criminal Code Sergey Suverov. “These companies have funds, they do not fear the sanctions status of the RGS and will be able to“ incorporate ”the huge structure of the company without the risk of losing identity,” explains the interlocutor “Kommersant” in the insurance market. At the same time, the most logical unification of Sogaz, as a very strong corporate player, with the retail « Rosgosstrakh » to strengthen the « universality » of the insurer, said Ivan Rybakov, adviser to the Legal IEGL, IVGAL. Sogaz and Sberbeling did not respond to the request of Kommersant.

At the same time, insurers indicate that among the interests there can be companies from the real sector.

This can be any major financial and industrial holding, which does not have an insurance company, the interlocutor of Kommersant from among insurers believes. Another interesting thing could be the Baltic Leasing, which was previously acquired by Mikhail Zharnytsky’s profitable investment (its share is pledged by the PSB, which financed the purchase, see “Kommersant” dated June 20, 2024), notes the interlocutor “Kommersant” in the insurance market. The Interfax source in the insurance market said that the most likely candidate for the acquisition of Rosgosstrakh is considered the financial and investment group “Region”, whose negotiations have been going on with VTB for a long time. “At the end of 2024, a rumor went to the market that the Region Group of Companies could buy the Rosgosstrakh insurance company,” said Kommersant’s interlocutor in the financial market. The group includes the Rossium concern, which owns the insurance companies of Yugoria and Gaida. In the « region », « Ugria », « Baltic leasing » did not respond to the request « Kommersant ». The PSB said that they did not consider the acquisition of Rosgosstrakh.

For those investors who want to enter the insurance market, Rosgosstrakh, a good asset due to a wide geographical presence, a large agent network, as well as a universal product line, a well -known brand, a large portfolio of individuals, the co -owner of the Maines insurance broker Sergey Khudyakov said. However, this is an expensive asset, “since in the future it will require digital transformation to optimize the cost of processes and the number of personnel,” the expert believes.

At the same time, experts diverged in assessing the value of this asset. According to Sergei Suverov, the RGS assessment can be made from financial multipliers of the only representative of the insurance industry in the Russian stock market, Renaissance Insurance, which costs 1.3 capital and 4.5 net profit. Independent expert Andrei Barkhota estimates the cost based on the transaction on the purchase of the FC Opening bank (0.65 capital), believing that « a guideline of 0.5–0.7 capital of the insurer was preserved as a basic ». According to the results of 2024, the profitability of the capital of the RGS amounted to 13.3%, which is lower in comparison with more effective insurers with a profitability of 25-30%, he explains.

Julia Proving, Vitaliy Gaidaev, Polina Trifonova