Regional insurer Jubilee Holdings Ltd (JHL) and Germany’s global insurer Allianz are eyeing entry into the Ethiopian market after the completion of their multimillion-dollar M&A deal.
Allianz last week completed the acquisition of a 66% stake in Kenya’s Jubilee General Insurance Company (Kenya), leaving the holding company (JHL) with 34% of the shares.
JHL and Allianz said that the partnership gives them the synergy to jointly explore new markets, with discussions ongoing for the Ethiopian market, reported The East African.
“We have been actively in discussion with Ethiopia. But obviously it is subject to the government and the choices that Ethiopia makes,” Mr Coenraad Vrolijk, Allianz Africa’s regional chief executive, said at a virtual investor briefing last week.
“I think over the past several years we have both (Allianz and JHL) been active at entering Ethiopia and I think it is a really interesting one to do it together. As the partnership evolves we will be exploring things together.”
Before the purchase, Allianz was already present in Kenya through its subsidiary Allianz Insurance Company of Kenya. The German insurer will consolidate this unit with its recent acquisition, and the combined entity will operate as Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Limited.
Expansion
Allianz’s purchase of the 66% stake in Jubilee General Insurance (Kenya) is part of a major deal reached in September 2020 between JHL and Allianz. The latter had offered $100m to acquire majority stakes in Jubilee’s general insurance subsidiaries in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as in the short-term insurance segment in Burundi and Mauritius.
With the Kenya phase completed, Allianz will continue with the finalisation of acquisitions of JHL units in the other four East African countries. Already present in western Africa, Allianz hopes to expand its reach to eastern Africa. The global insurer has also made recent acquisitions in Nigeria and Morocco.
Source: MEIR
