The contract on the sale of 100% share in the companies Ergo Osiguranje and Ergo Životno Osiguranje will be signed with the companies Ergo Austria International and Ergo Versicherung on Friday.

The group Sava Re, the owner of Zavarovalnica Sava, announced takeovers on markets outside Slovenia in its 2017-219 strategic plan. Currently, the group is present in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo.

In March, Pozavarovalnica Sava announced it would acquire Energoprojekt Garant, a small Serbian insurer specialised in construction and liability insurance and merge it into Sava's Serbian subsidiary.

The Sava Re group collected EUR 517.2m in gross premiums last year, up 5.5% from 2016. Net profit topped EUR 31.1m, down 5.5% year-on-year, as gross damages paid out were 14.9% higher at almost EUR 310m.

Zavarovalnica Sava is the result of the merger of Zavarovalnica Maribor, Zavarovalnica Tilia, and Croatia's Velebit Osiguranje and Velebit Životno Osiguranje.

It finished 2017 with EUR 25m in net profit, up 6%. Gross premiums were 5% higher at EUR 365.7m. The insurer paid out EUR 236.6m in gross damages or a fifth more than in 2016.