By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-French insurer AXA said on Friday it will acquire 77 percent stake worth 198 million euros ($246 million) in cash of Mansard Insurance Plc in a transaction that is expected to close before the end of 2014 according to a statement from the company.
AXA said it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Assur Africa Holdings (AAH) which holds a 77 percent stake in Mansard Insurance. Under the terms of the agreement, the total cash consideration payable at closing would amount to Euro 198 million. “AXA would include the acquired operations within its Mediterranean & Latin American Region,” the company added.
Mansard Insurance is the fourth largest player in Nigeria and with this acquisition, AXA would emerge number four insurance operator in the country.
According to AXA, Mansard as the fourth insurance provider in Nigeria operates in both property and casualty where it currently ranks number four with a market share of five percent.
Also, Mansard is ranked fifth in life and savings with a market share of four percent. “The company is well established in commercial lines5, which represents nearly two thirds of its revenues, and has been developing successfully its retail business, achieving a growth of ca. 40 percent per annum on average over the past three years. Mansard has built a strong competitive advantage through its multi-channel approach, with a strong focus on proprietary networks,” AXA noted.
The statement affirmed that this transaction would allow AXA to enter the highly attractive Nigerian market through a very reputable local company, led by a talented management team.
Similarly, Mansard would be able to capitalise on AXA’s extended distribution knowledge, unique product skills and actuarial know-how, to accelerate further its development and leverage its competitive advantages, “ the company said.
“This acquisition is a unique opportunity for AXA to enter the largest African economy with leading positions in all business lines and to get exposure to the fast-growing Nigerian retail insurance market. AXA will benefit locally from the knowledge of an experienced and successful management team and from a profitable platform. Thus, this transaction represents a further step in our acceleration strategy, which is at the heart of our Ambition AXA plan, and is in line with our belief that insurance is instrumental to foster economic development, by providing communities with protection and risk management expertise”, said Denis Duverne, deputy chief executive officer of AXA.
In the same vein, Tosin Runsewe, managing director of Mansard Group affirmed that they are delighted to join the AXA Group, a global leader in life & savings, property & casualty and Asset Management.
“It is indeed a befitting home for the Mansard Group given our leading position in the same business lines within Nigeria and our unflinching drive to consistently create exceptional value for all our stakeholders. Leveraging on our complementary strengths as well as common values and long-term vision, we can now deliver even higher levels of product innovation, underwriting capacity and operational excellence to our corporate and retail clients,” he said.
According to Runsewe, Mansard view with much excitement the opportunity to bring its strong entrepreneurial orientation to bear in delivering on AXA’s sub-Saharan African expansionary ambitions.
