CONSOLIDATION AND PERFORMANCE EFFECTIVENESS IN THE POLISH INSURANCE MARKET - CHOSEN EXAMPLES OF MERGERS

Enterprises that operate in the financial markets are affected by worldwide trends like globalisation and consolidation. In the Polish insurance market, effects of globalisation are visible through, among others, the processes of acquisitions and mergers. In the first years of 21(st) century, the insurance market in Poland witnessed a number of mergers. An important question to rise though is their effectiveness. Were the merging efforts calculated well enough to prove profitable for the insurance companies? In this context, the main objective of the following paper is to present theoretical and practical aspects of mergers among the Polish insurance market entities. A working hypothesis can be defined in the following way: merger and acquisition processes in the long run enhance the effectiveness of insurance companies. The paper is divided into four parts: first two are theoretical and based on related literature. Remaining parts are practical implementation of research hypotheses and conclusions.