Rising Capital can also sell Stake in Nigeria’s Continental Re

rising Capital partners, a personal-equity company that has raised greater than $2 billion for investments in Africa, is thinking about promoting its majority stake in Nigeria’s Continental Reinsurance %.

The buyout firm’s Africa Fund II is “exploring” the sale of C-Re retaining Ltd., which owns about 50.6 percent of the Lagos-based reinsurer, Continental Re said nowadays in a submitting to the Nigerian stock exchange. rising Capital bought a 30 percentage stake within the reinsurer for $25.8 million in 2007, according to the Washington-based totally personal-equity firm’s website.

Calls to the workplaces of rising Capital in Washington and Lagos weren’t replied. An exit by way of the non-public-equity company won’t affect Continental Re’s business, coping with Director Femi Oyetunji stated today.

Continental Re stocks fell 4.three percentage to shut at 1.12 naira [$.0069] in Lagos buying and selling. The inventory has declined eight.9 percent this 12 months compared with a 4 percent gain by the 195-member Nigerian stock exchange All percentage Index.

Continental Re plans to raise capital this year because the reinsurer sets up operations in greater African markets, Oyetunji stated in a July 14 interview. The reinsurer, which has branches in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Tunisia, plans to open in Botswana this yr and might extend into South Africa and Angola over the subsequent three years, he said.

Untapped marketplace

“the amount could be significant and much more likely to be fairness,” Oyetunji said on the organisation’s headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria’s business capital. “The relaxation of Africa is likewise a in large part untapped marketplace for us.”

The enterprise wishes the capital to “diversify and deepen its operations” and write extra risks overlaying lifestyles, property, engineering, oil and gasoline insurance, he stated.

Nigeria’s regulator oversaw enterprise reform after the global monetary disaster introduced the banking industry and stock market in Africa’s biggest oil manufacturer to the verge of fall apart in 2009. rules that pressure Nigerian agencies with as a minimum five employees to take existence cowl and make property insurance mandatory are enhancing coins drift for the coverage and reinsurance industry, Oyetunji stated.

“as soon as the records makes sense, it’s some thing we’ll do,” said Oyetunji, commenting on the company’s deliberate growth into South Africa and Angola.

The organization, which writes reinsurance dangers in 50 countries at the continent, plans to boom the percentage of sales generated by way of operations out of doors Nigeria to 60 percent with the aid of 2017 from 35 percentage last yr, he stated. It boosted gross premiums by way of eight.7 percent to fifteen billion naira ($92.five million) ultimate year, consistent with July 7 submitting to the Nigerian stock trade.

Continental Reinsurance expects profit to climb with the aid of “at least 20 percent” this year from 1.8 billion naira in 2013 with premiums gaining 25 percent, Oyetunji stated.