United Capital Gains N1.5bn from Sale of Insurance Firm

United Capital Plc, one of the leading African investment banking and financial services firm, has completed the sale of its 50 per cent holding in United Metropolitan Life, a joint venture established in 2005, to its Joint Venture partner, Metropolitan International Holdings (Proprietary) Limited.

The purchase consideration for the shares in United Metropolitan Nigeria Life amounted to N3.25 billion and the transaction closed on 10 May, 2016. United Capital realised a capital gain of N1.5 billion from the transaction.

Commenting on the divestment, Group Chief Executive Officer, United Capital, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Sanni, said: “This marks the conclusion of a very successful investment. Our objective is always to maximise shareholder return and we look forward to redeploying the capital in further ventures. We remain strongly convinced of the opportunities in the Nigerian financial services sector.”

Sanni thanked Metropolitan International, saying it has been an excellent joint venture partner.
“This partnership has led the way in South African and Nigerian businesses working together for the benefits of Africans. Through this partnership, we established a pioneering insurance business, which has led in customer satisfaction and product innovation,” she said.

She explained that all requisite regulatory approvals have been obtained and the Nigerian Stock Exchange has since been notified of the divestment.

“United Capital Plc remains committed to achieving its goal of building Africa’s leading investment and financial services group and to continue delivering service excellence across all of its business units in pursuit of these strategic objectives,” Sanni assured.

Meanwhile, the bull run was sustained wednesday at the stock market as investors continued to react positively to Tuesday’s decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to adopt a flexible foreign exchange market.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index, which rose by 0.80 per cent on the day of the decision, surged 3.8 per cent yesterday to close at 28,260.61. Market capitalisation added N353 billion to be at N9.71 trillion. A total of 48 stocks appreciated while only 10 lost. Investors traded 474.40 million shares valued at N3.50 billion exchanged in 5,260 deals, up by 73 per cent from the volume of the previous day.

Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said: “We expect current momentum to be sustained in the coming session, as the impact of MPC decision lingers.”