CAK approves Aon Kenya’s stake sale to S. African firm

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Kenyan unit of global insurance broker Aon by a South African private equity firm.

The Johannesburg-based Capital Works bought out Aon interests in Aon Kenya early this year through its newly created investment vehicle Extologix Proprietary.

Aon Kenya offers insurance brokerage services and human resource consulting.

CAK, in a gazette notice on Friday, gave the go-ahead for the transaction indicating the acquisition will not negatively affect the competition.

“…it is notified for general information of the public that the Competition Authority of Kenya has authorised the proposed acquisition of control in AON Kenya Insurance Brokers Limited by Extologix Proprietary Limited through Heartland Holdings Limited,” said CAK director-general Wang’ombe Kariuki in the notice.

The buyout was part of an acquisition spanning 10 Aon units in Africa including Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zambia.

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Aon had earlier said the deal would have “no direct impact on the operations of the business and it is simply a change of ownership.

“The owners who are selling their stake in Aon Kenya are Aon. The financial value of the transaction is not disclosed,” a spokesman at Aon Plc told the Business Daily. In the deal, Mr Joe Onsando has continued to serve as CEO of Aon sub-Saharan Africa.

The Kenyan underwriting broker will now become an exclusive agent to the London-based Aon, an arrangement that will be replicated across Capital Works’ network in Africa.

Capital works manages a portfolio of $515 million (Sh53.3 billion) and is banking on the buyout to tap into the growing insurance brokerage market in Kenya and across the continent.