Private Equity Fund AfricInvest acquires a14.3 percent stake in Britam Holdings Plc

Private equity fund AfricInvest has acquired a 14.30 percent stake in Britam Holdings Plc.

AfricInvest has entered into a conditional share subscription agreement to buy 360, 888, 281 million new ordinary shares of Britam at a subscription price of Kshs. 15. 85 per share at Kshs. 5.7 billion. Upon the completion of the subscription, AfricInvest will hold approximately 14. 30 per cent stake of the issued ordinary shares of the company.

The proposed acquisition is subject to the relevant regulatory and shareholders approval and will be concluded once the approvals have been received.Britam Plc plans to hold a special general meeting of the shareholders later in the year to seek their approval of the deal.

“Britam Holdings Limited hereby announces for the benefit of its shareholders and the investing public that it has entered into a share subscription agreement with AfricInvest III – SPV- 1 pursuant to which the investor will subscribe (the Proposed Subscription) for three hundred and sixty million eight hundred and sixty million eight hundred and eighty three thousand, two hundred and eighty one ordinary shares to be issued by the company,” the company said in a statement.

AfricInvest is a Pan African focused private equity fund which manages about One billion dollars in 14 private equity funds. It is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by a consortium of global investors from the Federal Republic of Germany, Netherlands and France.

Since inception in 1994, AfricInvest   has invested in 135 companies across 24 African countries in a variety of high growth sectors including financial services, agribusiness, consumer/retail, education and healthcare. Its most recent investments in the insurance industry are UAP Holdings (East Africa), Mansard Holdings (Nigeria) GAT Assurance (Tunisia) and UAB Life (Burkina Faso)

Britam Holdings Group Managing Director Dr. Benson Wairegi said the decision by the fund to invest in Britam is a statement of trust in the leadership and long term future of the group. It is also a reflection of the confidence in the company’s “Go for Gold” strategy whose vision is : “To be the leading diversified financial services company in our chosen markets by 2020.”

 The move comes less than a week after the IFC, the investment arm of the World Bank, released Kshs. 3.6 billion to fund strategic projects in the company.Both the IFC and AfricInvest subscribe to international standards of corporate governance andsustainability.