United Capital sells 50 per cent holding in United Metropolitan Life

South African life insurer MMI Holdings has acquired full ownership of United Metropolitan Nigeria Life Insurance after purchasing the 50 percent stake it did not already own, it said on Thursday.

Commenting on the divestment, Group Chief Executive Officer, United Capital, 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.”