Sunu Assurances Vie Cote D’Ivorie, a leading Cote D’Ivoire insurance company, has completed the acquisition process for 28.2 per cent equity stake in Equity Assurance Plc, in a deal valued at N1.25 billion.
The transfer of the equities to Sunu Assurances was done last week at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Sunu Assurance acquired a total of 2.497 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each of Equity Assurance Plc, representing 28.2 per cent of the equity stakes held by Skye Financial Services and other shareholders of Equity Assurance.
Equity Assurance, which is quoted on the insurance sector of the NSE, currently has total issued shares of 8.847 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each trading at its nominal value of 50 kobo, representing total market capitalisation of N4.42 billion.
The transactions pushed Equity Assurance up as the most active stock for the week, with a turnover of 2.53 billion shares valued at N1.26 billion in 110 deals. The council of the NSE had earlier granted its “no-objection” to the acquisition.
Sustained depreciation of share prices of Nigerian quoted companies has made several companies targets of acquisitions. The low valuation is prominent in the insurance sector, where most companies are trading at their nominal value of 50 kobo.
The acquisition gave the Sunu Group a foothold in the Nigerian market. The group already has operations in 10 other African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Niger and Togo.
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