NCBA Group plans to buy an additional 66.67 percent stake in AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited from an American multinational in a deal that will see it take full ownership of the insurer.
The firm said on Monday its board has given the green light to the proposed transaction, which if successful, will see it take control of the insurer that is majority-owned by American International Group (AIG) Inc, a US multinational with operations in more than 80 countries.
AIG Kenya clients include multinationals, large Kenyan businesses, small and middle-sized enterprises and thousands of individuals, which NCBA wants to tap into.
“Insurance is increasingly becoming a basic financial need for the type of customer that NCBA serves,” said John Gachora, managing director at NCBA.
“We believe that by bringing together NCBA’s physical and digital distribution platforms and AIG Kenya’s insurance capabilities we will accelerate towards our ambition to become a universal bank that addresses a full set of our customers’ financial needs.”
NCBA has over the past 18 years held a minority stake in AIG Kenya which has been operating in the country since 1972 and closed last year with Sh3.62 billion gross written premiums to give it a 2.14 percent general insurance market share.
The lender’s annual report shows it had a 33.33 percent effective interest in AIG Kenya at the end of December last year, making the insurer its associate.
