Bahrain: Solidarity buys majority stake in Al Ahlia for $28 mln
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Feb 2017
Bahrain-based Solidarity Group Holding has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Al Ahlia Insurance in a deal worth BHD10.7 million (US$28.4 million).
“As part of its growth strategy, the Solidarity Group actively pursues promising expansion opportunities in the insurance industry locally and within the MENA region as a whole,” said Solidarity Group Chairman, Mr Khalid Abdulla Janahi.
He said that Al Ahlia Insurance would be consolidated at a later stage with the group’s existing Bahrain operations through the fully owned subsidiary Solidarity General Takaful. Founded more than 40 years ago, Al Ahlia Insurance is one of the oldest and largest insurers in Bahrain operating in all classes of insurance.
Mr Janahi added: “At this stage, we are working closely with Al Ahlia Insurance to accelerate the transition process and to draw up a post-merger integration plan that best leverages the strengths of the two companies and better serve our client base. We are relying on our experience in a recent and very similar exercise carried out in the Jordanian market with very successful integration and merger results.”
First Insurance, a Jordanian subsidiary of Solidarity, acquired a controlling stake in Yarmouk Insurance in Jordan in 2015.
Mr Janahi said: “Taking into consideration the saturated local market, consolidation becomes a necessity in order to create larger and stronger financial institutions capable of competing locally and offer a unique customer experience.
“The growth opportunity in global takaful and insurance markets is very promising. Our ever-expanding footprint coupled with investment-grade credit ratings of our underlying operations, gives us the ideal platform to exploit those opportunities in order to enhance and advance our overall stakeholders value and interests.”
BHD1 = US$2.65