04.12.2003 – 08:05

Generali Holding Vienna AG

euro adhoc: Generali Holding Vienna AG
Mergers - Acquisitions - Takeovers
Insurance: New Insurance Leader to be Created in Austria (E)

  Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc.
  The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.

Go-ahead for the merger of Interunfall Versicherung AG  in Generali
Versicherung AG in 2004

Listed group parent Generali Holding Vienna AG, Vienna, plans to
merge Interunfall Versicherung AG in Generali Versicherung AG, its
two major insurance subsidiaries in Austria.  The Supervisory Boards
of the two companies have passed the resolutions to initiate their
formal merger.  Final approval by general shareholders’ meetings is
planned for the first half of 2004.  The merger is expected to be
entered in the companies register effective 1 September 2004 once the
approval has been obtained from the Austrian Financial Market
Authority.  Interunfall’s free-float shareholders, currently holding
roughly 0.65 per cent of its stock, are to receive a cash settlement
from Generali Holding Vienna AG.

The merger of the two companies will be the logical completion of a
process of integration begun several years ago.  Interunfall
Versicherung AG and Generali Versicherung AG have been jointly
managed for some time, and the two companies’ organizational
structures have been amalgamated at every level over the past two
years.  Since April 2003, they have also had unified product lines. 
To achieve a shared IT framework, both insurers’ application systems
were remodelled in 2002 in the course of the euro changeover.

The formal merger of the two companies will not directly affect
customers.  Insurance policies will remain valid and unaltered
although the insurer will now be called Generali Versicherung AG.

According to current insurance association statistics, "new" Generali
Versicherung AG will be Austria’s biggest insurance company with a
market share of 14.74 per cent.  The company’s market leadership will
be particularly evident in the property/casualty insurance segment,
where it will have a market share of 19.98 per cent.  It will also be
the leader in both the motorvehicle insurance segment (23.42 per
cent) and the accident insurance segment (16.64 per cent).  "New"
Generali Versicherung AG will be third-placed in the life insurance
sector (9.84 per cent) and will rank fourth in the health insurance
market (13.06 per cent).

end of announcement        euro adhoc 04.12.2003

Further inquiry note:

Generali Holding Vienna AG
Christine Rohrer
Tel.: (++43-1) 534 01-2446
Fax: (++43-1) 534 01-1593
mailto:christine.rohrer@generali.at
http://www.generali-holding.at

Branche: Insurance
ISIN: AT0000661350
WKN: 066135
Index: ATX, ATX Prime, WBI
Börsen: Wiener Börse AG / official dealing
Berliner Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade
Hamburger Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / free trade