Hollard International Acquires 20% Stake in Kenya’s Apollo Investments Group

South Africa’s Hollard International announced that it has signed an agreement to buy a 20% stake in Kenya’s insurance group Apollo Investments Ltd, marking the latest ownership change in the company. However, neither company disclosed the value of the proposed transaction.

It may be recalled that the Zurich-based Swiss Re acquired a minority stake in Apollo in 2014 and there has been a rise in deal-making in the Africa’s insurance market in recent years as insurers seek to boost their capital besides expanding their operations.

Apollo’s Chief Executive Ashok Shah said that it has been an exciting time for APA because the Hollard partnership will open new doors and new avenues of growth for its business.

“We will have access to substantial new expertise in classes of business such as motor, engineering, marine and other specialist lines of insurance, which we believe will open up a number of profitable business opportunities,” Shah said.

According to him, the deal will help Apollo strengthen its operations in Uganda and Tanzania besides being ready to seize opportunities in Ethiopia once regulations allow foreign investment. On the other hand, Hollard International sees the transaction as a means to expand its presence in Africa.

Hollard CEO Pravin Kalpage said that partnering with APA Insurance is a giant step for Hollard International and it will help the company immeasurably in extending its footprint in Africa.

“APA has an established track record, an impressive value proposition with strong broker and customer relationships, and it shares our values around community, reliability, and customer-centricity. All these elements resonated strongly with us,” he added.

Apollo’s businesses are APA Insurance, APA Life, APA Uganda, Apollo Asset Management, Gordon Court (Apollo Centre) and Reliance Insurance, Tanzania.

APA Life is one of its subsidiaries posting a net income of $3.5 million last year. This was down from $3.6 million in 2021. Apollo’s operations span general and life insurance.

Hollard offers similar services in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana, and Ghana. Hollard also provides specialist insurance services, offering covers to high-net-worth clients including protection of their collections and luxury items.

Other Acquisitions

The Hollard-Apollo deal follows Jubilee Holdings recent sale of majority stakes in its general insurance subsidiaries to Allianz SE for $71.5 million in transactions that started in 2020. ICEA Lion Insurance Holdings also sold a 24.1% stake to private equity firm Leapfrog Investments in 2020 for $15.9 million.

Multinationals buying into Kenyan firms see the low uptake of insurance services as presenting growth opportunities. The buyers are bringing capital, expertise, and new services.

At a pan-African level, Allianz SE and Sanlam Limited are forming a 10-year joint venture that brings together their interests in their local subsidiaries including Sanlam Kenya and Jubilee Allianz General Insurance Kenya.