German Investment Fund Buys 1.4 Billion Stake in Kenyan Reinsurance Company

“This capital will assist the company to build on its operational results realised in 2015 which saw a 10.6 per cent growth in our business underwritten from $125 million in 2014 to $138.8 million in 2015,” Zep-Re managing director Rajni Varia said.

The DEG deal comes after a similar move by Kenya Re which acquired an additional 4.44 per cent stake in the firm last month for Sh1.3 billion to cement its position as the single-largest shareholder. Kenya Re currently owns a 19.88 per cent stake in the firm.

DEG first bought into Zep-Re in 2014 making an estimated investment of up to Sh1.3 billion for 11 per cent stake.

The private reinsurer is owned by a mix of private firms, sovereign wealth funds and governments making up the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

Zep-Re underwrites life and non-life reinsurance risks primarily in Kenya with 10 per cent mandatory (guaranteed business) cessions being offered by governments of Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda.

The company provides property, casualty, motor, marine, aviation, life, and medical insurance products. It also operates in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Sudan.

The company says Zep-Re they currently write over 4,000 treaties from 500 companies in 50 countries drawn from Africa, Middle East, and the Indian Sub-continent.

The firm said the additional investment signals DEG’s confidence about ZEP-RE’s future prospects and comes amid increased interest in the company by other global institutional investors.