VEROD Capital acquires AXA Mansard Pensions after divestment by insurance firm

By Charles Abuede

VEROD Capital, the investment banking and private equity firm, through its Eustacia subsidiary, is to take over AXA Mansard Pensions Limited, a subsidiary of one of Nigeria’s leading insurance and asset management firms, AXA Mansard Insurance PLC, following the latter’s divestment from its pension business.

In a regulatory filing to The Nigeran Stock Exchange (NSE) signed by Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi, its company secretary, AXA Mansard said by an approval of its shareholders at a February 2020 extraordinary general meeting, it was commencing the divestment process that will see VEROD Capital take over its shareholding in the pension company.

AXA Mansard said it appointed

Rand Merchant Bank as financial advisers, and Aluko & Oyebode as legal advisers on the transaction.

VEROD’s take over is through Eustacia Limited, a member of its group which was selected as the preferred bidder, upon the completion of the bid process.

“AXA Mansard along with the minority shareholder entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Eustacia Limited to divest the entire AXA Mansard Pensions’ issued ordinary share capital comprising of 60 per cent shareholding (2,067,672,000 shares) held by AXA Mansard Insurance plc and the other 40 per cent (1,378,448,000 shares) held by the minority Shareholder,” the company stated in the Stock Exchange filing.

Kunle Ahmed, chief executive officer, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc said of the transaction: “This transaction marks a new step in AXA´s broader strategy to focus on and grow our life, property & casualty (P&C) and health businesses across all its geographies. The AXA Group sees great potential in the Nigerian insurance market and believes AXA Mansard is ideally placed to capture these opportunities, thanks to its market leadership positions in Health Insurance, Property and Casualty and Life Insurance. We plan to capitalize on our successes to further build our capabilities and continue to deliver the best offers and services to our customers”.

Dapo Akisanya, AXA Mansard Pensions Limited CEO, while commenting on the divestment, said: “We are confident about Verod’s strong commitment to providing the Company with the requisite support to actualize our promise to our clients and stakeholders.

“As a West African investor with deep local knowledge and presence, we look forward to harnessing Verod’s unique, and world-class, attributes towards setting new standards in the industry. Verod has the capacity, expertise, and network, to support the business to continue to expand and to provide innovative solutions for the benefit of our current and future clients,” Akisanya explained.

Eric Idiahi, partner and co-founder at Verod Capital, expressing optimism over the transaction, said: “We strongly believe that this is the ideal time to enter the market and that AXA Mansard Pensions provides an excellent beachhead from which to establish a consolidated position and gain market share.

“The National Pension Commission continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to raising standards within the industry and driving pension penetration rates in the short to medium term. We believe that sustaining AXA Mansard Pension’s industry-leading investment returns, excellent customer service, as well as, expanding distribution network and product offerings will facilitate the capture of the considerable growth potential within the Nigerian pensions industry, particularly following the opening of the transfer window,” he further stated.

Meanwhile, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc has also noted that the divestment has received letters of No Objection from the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), National Pension Commission (PENCOM), and the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). The completion of the divestment is subject to the receipt of the final approval of the National Pension Commission.