Sigma Pensions Targets Market Dominance with Access Corporation Acquisition

Nume Ekeghe

The acquisition of Sigma Pensions by entities controlled by Access Corporation (Parent Company of Access Bank) will position it as the fourth largest Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) in Nigeria after its proposed merger with First Guarantee Pensions with its target set on attaining market dominance in the near-term.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sigma Pensions, Mr. Dave Uduanu reiterated that the sale of Actis Golf Nigeria Limited – Parent Company of Sigma Pensions was based on the firm’s original strategic intent to invest in Sigma Pensions, work with management to achieve a significant transformation and exit after a 5/6 year holding period.

He expressed that the milestone transaction would create a dominant wholly-owned Nigerian PFA well positioned to serve its customers better with huge funds under management and the capacity to invest in critical sectors of the economy like infrastructure, Private Equity, Real Estate, mortgage backed securities and critical SMEs.

He added: “This transaction allows Sigma to become part of the Access Corporation’s ecosystem which has the biggest bank in Nigeria with over 50 million customers. Customers would have all their pensions and financial planning requirements met under one roof. They will also have the benefit of accessing up to 25% of their RSA savings to support the purchase of a home under the RSA-mortgage support scheme.

“For the staff of Sigma Pensions, this is a huge leap forward as they will be working for one of the biggest financial service companies in Nigeria. And for the country as a wholly owned, this will be a success story of an exit by the biggest and best Private Equity Firm in emerging markets, ACTIS PE exiting an investment to biggest Financial Services Company in Nigeria.”