AXA Mansard Insurance Divests From Subsidiary

• As Eustacia Limited Takes Over

By Gbenga Abulude

AXA Mansard Insurance is divesting from its subsidiary, AXA Mansard Pensions, after entering into a sale and purchase agreement with Eustacia Limited.

This was unveiled in a notification sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and signed by Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi, AXA Mansard Insurance company secretary, over the weekend.

The notice read that the shareholder had approved the sale at the company’s extraordinary general meeting held on February 13 2020, after which the company began the process of divestment.

Eustacia Limited (a member of the Verod Group) was selected as the preferred bidder after completion completion of a bid process.

The company along with the minority shareholder entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Eustacia Limited to divest the entire issued ordinary share capital of AXA Mansard Pensions comprising of 60 percent shareholding (2,067,672,000 shares) held by AXA Mansard Insurance and 40 percent shareholding (1,378,448,000 shares) held by the minority shareholder.

Consequently, the divestment has received letters of no objection from the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), National Pension Commission (PENCOM), and the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). The completion of the divestment is subject to the receipt of the final approval of PENCOM.

Mr Kunle Ahmed, CEO of AXA Mansard Insurance, stated that the transaction marks a new direction in AXA’s broader strategy to focus on and grow the company’s life, property & casualty and health businesses across all its geographies.

Mr Eric Idiahi, partner at Verod, expressed his company’s commitment to sustaining AXA Mansard Pensions’ standards.

“We strongly believe that this is the ideal time to enter the market and that AXA Mansard Pensions provides an excellent beachhead from which to establish a consolidated position and gain market share,” Idiahi said.