Sanlam acquires Uganda’s Lion Assurance Company

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In a move to expand its visibility in east Africa, Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) has acquired Uganda’s Lion Assurance Company for a purchase price of $6.5m.

Lion Assurance Company (LAC), which is owned by Botswana-based Trans Industry Proprietary, is an insurance company in Uganda with its business mainly in motor, financial, personal accident and fire insurance.

The deal means LAC will merge with Sanlam General Insurance Uganda (SGIU), a subsidiary of SEM that offers general insurance products for both personal, commercial and corporate clients.

Growing visibility

The merged entity will operate under the SGIU name and LAC will renew all existing client policies under the Sanlam brand and policy wording.

The Sanlam Group is one of Africa’s largest financial services providers, with a market capitalisation in excess of $11bn (£8.3bn, €9.7bn) and operations in 34 African countries.

SEM chief executive Junior Ngulube said the transaction offers the provider an opportunity to grow its identity and expand its visibility in Uganda and east Africa.

“Uganda is a key market in Africa and the transaction supports SEM’s strategy of bolt-on acquisitions to achieve scale,” Ngulube said.

“We anticipate that the merged business will generate a gross written premium of UGX67.3bn ($18.7m), placing the business firmly in third place in the market,” he said.

Ngulube said LAC client policies will be managed by SGIU who will administer claims, organise any changes to existing policies and provide cover for any new requirements that existing LAC clients may have.

East Africa focus

The LAC deal follows the acquisition of Kenya-based asset manager PineBridge Investments east Africa (PIEAL) in March 2017.

PIEAL was an asset management company in East Africa with operations in Kenya and Uganda.

The acquisition of PIEAL was also carried out to optimise expansion opportunities and develop investment products.

Source: https://international-adviser.com