BRATISLAVA, August 31, (WEBNOVINY) — Penta investment group is increasing its share in the health insurance company Dovera. After the deal is completed, it should be the only shareholder in the company. Penta has agreed with the company Prefto Holding Limited to take over its 50 percent stake in the company. The transaction still needs to be approved by the Health Care Supervision Office as well as the Antitrust Office. The volume of the transaction is not known and Penta has no intention of disclosing it.
The main reason for the transaction should be disagreements between the two shareholders about further operation of Dovera after the Slovak government announced that it wants to establish a system in Slovakia with a single health insurance company. „We disagree with the current initiative of the government and do not want to sell our shareholding in the company to the state. We believe that the existence of choice and competition between public and private health insurance companies brings greater efficiency and quality in health care and services,“ said Eduard Matak, a partner in Penta. Penta views introduction of a system with a single health insurance company as a step back, which would damage patients as well as physicians. It will therefore spare no effort to defend the current pluralistic system of health insurance.
„Given that the company Prefto Holding Limited perceives the danger of a fundamental change in rules for the business in public health insurance, the shareholders decided to exit the health insurer Dovera,“ said a representative of Prefto Holding Limited, Daniel Futej. He said that Prefto welcomes the agreement with Penta that ends the shareholder disagreement that could have had a negative impact on the functioning of Dovera.
Dovera is the largest private health insurance company on the Slovak market with 1.4 million policyholders. Penta has become a shareholder in 2002. Following the merger of Dovera and health insurer Apollo in 2009, Prefto joined as a 50-percent shareholder.
SITA
