ASSA Compañía Tenedora, S.A. and ASSA Compañía de Seguros (ASSA) and American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) today announced that they have entered into a share purchase agreement under which, ASSA will acquire 100 percent of AIG’s operations in Central America located in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in each country.
Grupo Assa de Panamá plans to complete its presence in Central America by opening operations in Honduras and Guatemala.
Panama's Grupo Assa is currently doing business in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador, and has recently, entered the insurance market in Colombia with 40% stake in Cardinal Seguros.
The group now plans to invest in Guatemala and Honduras, while studying further expansion in South America, aiming to become a multinational insurance group said the director, Stanley Motta, to Larepublica.co.
In 2010 the insurance company's profits grew by 24% in 2009.
The regional growth strategy established five years ago has yielded great results. The significant increase in income is due, in large part, to the company’s operations in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
The economic growth experienced by the region in the past has accelerated the insurance business, leading to the Assa Groups’s growth in operations in different countries.
The insurance industry kept on growing, albeit at a lower pace, in spite of economic and financial crisis.
In 2008 this industry sold 17% more insurance than in 2007, summing over $3 billion sales. It slowed considerably in 2009, but managed to maintain positive growth numbers.
From Martesfinanciero.com: "In order to achieve this, insurers had to resort to diverse measures, such as strategic alliances, brand changes, better prices and more services".