October 23 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition said on Wednesday that it has granted approval to local Groupama Zhivotozastrahovane, a unit of France's Groupama Group, to acquire 100% of Express Life Insurance.
The combined market share of the two insurers varies between 0.99% and 21.02% regarding the different types of insurance policies they offer, which is not sufficient for the establishment of a dominant market position, the competition regulator said in its decision.
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Earlier this month, Groupama Zhivotozastrahovane also received approval for the acquisition from the Financial Supervision Commission.
In July, OTP said that together with its Bulgarian unit Expressbank it has agreed to sell 100% of insurer Express Life Insurance to Groupama Zhivotozastrahovane.
Expressbank was renamed from Societe Generale Expressbank earlier this year, after DSK Bank - a unit of OTP, completed its acquisition from France's Societe Generale Group. Besides Expressbank, DSK Bank also acquired indirect control over its units Societe Generale Factoring, Sogelease Bulgaria and Regional Urban Development Fund, as well as direct control over insurer Sogelife Bulgaria.
OTP Bank has been present in Bulgaria since 2003.