* Deal worth 830 million euros
* Expands Vienna's market leadership in central and eastern
Europe
* Raises cash for Aegon to cope with pandemic crisis
Nov 30 (Reuters) - Vienna Insurance Group will buy
Dutch insurer Aegon's Central and Eastern European
business for 830 million euros ($993 million), cementing
Vienna's regional lead and raising cash for Aegon to cope with
the coronavirus crisis.
The deal includes insurance companies, pension funds, asset
management and service companies in Hungary, Poland, Romania and
Turkey with a premium volume of around 600 million euros, a
managed pension fund volume of around 5 billion euros and a
customer base of 4.5 million, VIG said on Monday.
In 2019, the assets generated a net profit of around 50
million euros with around 1,650 employees, it added.
Aegon announced the deal, which is set to close in the
second half of 2021, on Sunday.
"The acquisition of the Central and Eastern European
business of Aegon is an important step for our group to
sustainably strengthen our leading position in CEE and to take
advantage of new opportunities," VIG Chief Executive Elisabeth
Stadler said in a statement.
"The portfolios of the companies included in the scope of
the transaction perfectly complement our existing units and
strengthen our diversification in these countries. In Hungary,
we are making the leap to the top."
Aegon Chief Executive Lard Friese said: "This transaction
will simplify Aegon's footprint and strengthen our balance
sheet."
In October, Reuters reported that the Dutch insurer had put
its Eastern European business up for sale and was working with
JPMorgan on the process.
Aegon suffered a 30% drop in underlying pretax earnings in
the first half of 2020 due to higher mortality and lower
interest rates in the United States, where it owns the
Transamerica brand and where it does two-thirds of its business.
($1 = 0.8360 euros)
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Michael
Shields in Zurich; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)