(Bloomberg) -- Assicurazioni Generali SpA is in early talks to buy the Central European assets of MetLife Inc. as the Italian insurer seeks to expand through acquisitions in high-growth markets, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The business may be worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion) and is concentrated in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans aren’t public. Talks are at a preliminary stage and the transaction may not happen, the people said.

A representative for MetLife declined to comment, while a Generali spokesman said that the insurer doesn’t comment on rumors and speculations.

Generali has said that it’s willing to consider acquisitions to enter new countries as one of the top-five players in that market and had signaled that it was interested in pursuing opportunities in central and Eastern Europe. Expansion in Europe -- and in particular the CEE region -- is one of the pillars of Chief Executive Officer Philippe Donnet strategy, as mergers and acquisitions reshape the industry.

MetLife shares rose as much as 6.1% and were trading 1.5% higher at $48.24 as of 1:39 p.m. in New York on Tuesday. Generali was little changed at 16.26 euros in Milan trading as of 9:09 a.m. Wednesday. The stock has gained 12% this year, giving Italy’s biggest insurer a market value of 25.5 billion euros.

The firm has said it has several billion euros to invest in deals and internal growth by 2021. This year it bought assets in Slovenia, insurance portfolios in Hungary and Slovakia and has signed a bancassurance agreement with UniCredit SpA to strengthen its position in central and Eastern Europe.

Poland accounts for one of MetLife’s largest operations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, according to a company filing. In 2012, MetLife agreed to buy life insurance businesses from Aviva in the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as Aviva’s life insurance and pension businesses in Romania. MetLife also has a presence in Bulgaria and Slovakia.

--With assistance from Dinesh Nair and Daniele Lepido.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sonia Sirletti in Milan at ssirletti@bloomberg.net;Tommaso Ebhardt in Milan at tebhardt@bloomberg.net;Lananh Nguyen in New York at lnguyen35@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Christian Baumgaertel

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