Enko Capital exits Nigerian insurance company
Enko Capital Managers (ECM), managers of the Enko Africa Private Equity Fund (EAPEF), has exited its investment in Law Union Rock Insurance (LUR), a Nigerian mid-size general insurance company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Lagos-based private equity fund, Verod Capital bought the entire share capital of LUR through its investment vehicle Kanuri LUR after shareholders of LUR accepted their offer of NGN1.23 per share.
EAPEF made its initial investment in LUR in 2017 via a subscription to a special rights issue and the agreement for its exit was reached at LUR’s 51st annual general meeting held in September 2020. LUR shareholders approved the disposal of the company to Verod in the context of a new regulatory regime requiring insurance companies to increase their minimum capital from NGN3 billion to NGN10 billion by NAICOM’s deadline of December 31st, 2021. The acquisition of 100% of LUR by Verod is a consolidation play in the Nigerian insurance sector aimed at meeting these revised minimum capital thresholds and follows Verod’s earlier acquisitions of Metropolitan Life and ARM Life Insurance.
ECM managing partner, Cyrille Nkontchou who led the deal said, “We are thrilled to have successfully and profitably completed the second exit out of our portfolio of seven investments. The finalisation of the transaction has been delayed by the challenges in the repatriation of sale proceeds due to shortages of foreign exchange in Nigeria since the start of the Covid pandemic. We expect to complete further portfolio exits in 2022 and begin the fundraising process for EAPEF fund II.”
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