Brussels vetoes Hungary over Aegon sale plans
(ABM FN-Dow Jones) The European Commission is investigating Hungary’s decision to block the sale of two Hungarian subsidiaries of Aegon to Vienna Insurance Group. Brussels announced this on Friday.
The Commission wants to investigate whether Hungary’s veto does not violate Article 21 of the EU merger rules.
Aegon reached an agreement last November with VIG on the sale of its insurance, pension and asset management activities in Poland, Romania and Turkey for 830 million euros.
After Budapest stopped the sale, Aegon and VIG went to court in Hungary. But there they got zero on the bill.
Bloomberg reported earlier this year citing sources that there are already other interested parties to acquire Aegon’s Hungarian division, including Hungarian insurer Cig Pannonia.
About a quarter of Cig is owned by Opus Global, a holding company of Lorinc Meszaros, one of the business partners of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The European Commission had given the green light for the sale to VIG.
Source: ABM Financial News
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