Triglav's supervisory board on Thursday endorsed a management proposal to that effect, and director Andrej Slapar said he had already informed the Croatian government about Triglav's interest in submitting a non-binding bid for CO by September 20, the Dnevnik daily said.
According to Dnevnik, Triglav's management has two scenarios for taking over a majority stake in CO. Under the first scenario, the company would use part of its own funds and an injection of fresh capital, while under the second, it would take out a loan.
Both scenarios lead to an "inevitable privatisation" of Triglav, to which Slovenia's policy strongly objects, the paper said.
The Slovenian government is aware of the Triglav management's plan but has not yet decided whether to support it, Dnevnik said, recalling that former director Matjaz Rakovec, who was replaced in May, had been in favour of Triglav taking over CO as well as being recapitalised by the Polish insurance group PZU.
The Croatian government on August 7 invited expressions of interests and non-binding bids for a part of its 80.2% stake in CO and recapitalisation. The government plans to retain at least 25% plus one share or a maximum 30% after recapitalisation.
CO's market capitalisation is about EUR 2.17 billion. It is speculated that PZU and Croatia's tobacco and tourism Adris Group will also express an interest in the Croatian insurer.