UK based insurance firm, Linkham Group, has announced plans to acquire a stake in Resolution Insurance after a purchase of 100% of the equity holding in the Kenyan insurance company from private equity impact investment firm, Leapfrog Investments, for an undisclosed amount.
LeapFrog Investments invested Ksh. 1.68b ($US18.7m) for a majority stake in Resolution Insurance in 2015, though its holding company, Resolution Health East Africa Limited.
The agreement is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals in Kenya, and is expected to be finalized within this quarter. The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) of Kenya given a nod to the parties to progress the transaction to completion. This move will see Resolution Insurance business immediately gain access to Linkham Group’s financial and insurance networks in Africa and across the globe.
The investment by Linkham Group will give Resolution Insurance customers greater choice, broader availability and better value in a hypercompetitive Kenyan insurance sector. The firm was founded in 2007 and remains privately owned with operations in South Africa, Mauritius, the UK and Ireland.
Mike Cranfield, Linkham Group CEO said, “This investment lays the foundations for Resolution Insurance to leverage our global scale, resources, capability and efficiency needed to accelerate its growth and contribute to the economic and social prosperity of Kenyans, insurance service providers, policyholders and the local communities. We will bring our expertise in end to end delivery of insurance solutions to the financial services, airline, broker and card payments sector with leading–edge innovation that will challenge industry norms”, he added.
Resolution Insurance was founded by businessman Peter Nduati in 2002 as a medical insurance provider in Kenya. The company changed its name from Resolution Health to Resolution Insurance in 2013 as it expanded into East Africa.
“For nearly 20 years, we relied on our local capabilities, heritage and experience to gain the scale, resources and execution capability to operate as a valuable provider of health insurance in Kenya and other East African markets – serving our customers and stakeholders diligently in a sector whose market dynamics continue to be very challenging,” said Resolution Insurance CEO, Mr. Peter Nduati.
Raimund Snyders, a partner at LeapFrog Investments said, “Since first investing in Resolution Insurance in January 2015, we have worked with their team to drive commercial strategies to scale the growth and impact of the company at a period when the insurance sector faced severe challenges. We believe the platform we created over the past five years is strong enough for its future growth.”
Resolution Insurance has grown to become a tier two underwriter offering a variety of products from medical plans, travel plans, liability plans, property covers, motor covers and all other classes of general insurance.