Groupama Sees Initial Bids For GAN As Too Low- Report

Groupama SA has received several initial offers for its general insurance subsidiary GAN Assurances, but the French mutual insurer considered the prices offered were too low, French business daily Les Echos reported Friday without citing sources.

Groupama got initial expressions of interest from French insurers Axa SA (CS.FR) and Covea, German peer Allianz SE (ALV.XE), and AGR2 La Mondiale, the report said. Italian insurer Generali was said to have withdrawn from the bidding.

The group may consider selling other businesses said Les Echos. Some of the bidders were interested in Groupama's life insurance business, while others were keen on the non-life, so joint bids from consortia are also possible, added the paper.

Groupama, weighed down by large investments in equities and a relatively high exposure to the sovereign debt of distressed euro-zone governments, is one of the first big European insurers to face major capital adequacy problems as a result of the sovereign debt crisis.

In October, the group fired its chief executive after two rating agencies downgraded the company.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.lesechos.fr

-By Paris Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 33-1-4017 1740