Italian Regulator Approves Allianz’ RAS Share Purchase

Germany’s Allianz announced that on October 13 Consob, the Italian financial markets authority, approved Allianz’s tender offer document relating to the offer to purchase all ordinary and savings shares, it does not already own, of Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà SpA (RAS), Allianz’s Italian subsidiary.

Allianz currently holds a 55.5 percent stake in Italy’s RAS, which offers insurance and banking services to more than five million clients in Italy and other European countries. The company said the offer period would start on October 20. The acceptance period will close on November 23 and the payment date is expected for November 30, 2005

“The offer represents a preparatory step of a broad repositioning plan for Allianz and its Italian operations, the general terms of which were approved by Allianz and RAS,” the bulletin continued. “The cornerstone of this repositioning plan is the ultimate merger of RAS into Allianz, with Allianz converting into a European Company (Societas Europaea)” (See IJ Website Sept. 13).