DPI, an Africa-focused private equity firm, has announced its intention to sell Assur Africa Holding (AAH), which holds a 77% stake in Nigeria’s Mansard Insurance, to the AXA Group (AXA) for a total consideration of approximately €198m ($245.27m).

The transaction, which is expected to close before the end of 2014, will allow AXA to further strengthen its presence in Africa and enter the fast-growing Nigerian insurance market, in line with its strategy.

Idris Mohammed, Partner, DPI said:  “DPI is proud to have been part of building the premier insurance brand and platform in Nigeria.  Driven by an exceptionally strong and motivated management team, and backed by the technical and financial resources of AXA, Mansard is well positioned to harness the significant growth opportunity in insurance and other financial services presented by Africa’s largest consumer market.  We wish the management team and AXA continued success in delivering on this potential.”

Mansard is a leading and well-established insurance company in Nigeria, offering a diverse range of life and non-life products to both institutional and retail clients.

Mansard is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and is the largest listed insurer by market capitalisation on the exchange. 

The company operates strong institutional and retail insurance service platforms, insuring leading Nigerian and multinational companies on the institutional side and operating various distribution channels on the retail side.

Mansard is also building wholly owned asset management and health insurance businesses which are expected to become leading players in their sectors within the coming years.
 
AfricInvest, as well as the European development finance institutions - DEG, FMO and PROPARCO - were invested alongside the Fund, which was the largest shareholder in AAH.

Mansard has become one of the most innovative insurance companies in Africa and has established distribution channels to increase the accessibility to insurance products for millions of Nigerians, according to DEG, FMO and PROPARCO.

“We are proud of having been part of Mansard’s success story and to have contributed to the Company’s high ESG standards and achievements. We wish the Company and the management team every success going forward,” the DFIs said. 

Runa Alam, CEO of DPI, added: “Our investment in Mansard fits our core investment objective to invest in best-in-class African companies that benefit from the emerging middle class. We are delighted to have achieved such strong equity returns for our ADP I investors.”

“We thank AfricInvest, DEG, FMO, PROPARCO and the Mansard management team for the partnership over the last several years and for contributing to the growth and success of Mansard,” she said.
 
Lazard is acting as financial advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright is acting as legal counsel to the sellers on the transaction.