Bulgaria's blue-chip First Investment Bank (FIBank) has acquired a 2% stake in local health insurer Zdravnoosiguritelna Kasa Prime Health, the lender said in a statement on Thursday.

The bank has further agreed to subscribe a number of shares that will allow it to become a majority shareholder in a potential increase of the insurer’s capital, which currently stands at BGN 2 million. No specific timeframe was provided.

Zdravnoosiguritelna Kasa Prime Health holds slightly over 2% of the Bulgarian private health insurance market, ranking 11th among all 20 market players.

For the first five months of the year, it reported revenue of just less than BGN 500,000.

The Bulgarian private health insurance continued to expand, reaching BGN 21.6 million in terms of premium income from January through May, according to figures by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). Paid claims stood at BGN 3.77 million.

The market leader, with a 21% market share, is Medico-21, which is controlled by blue-blooded pharmaceutical company Sopharma. Inevstbank-owned former leader Bulgaria-Zdrave was ousted to the second spot with 14.7%. Third ranks Generali Zakrila with 13.5% of all premiums.