Actis LLP, a private equity investor in emerging markets, has invested $62 million for a majority stake in a Nigerian Pension Fund Administrator, Sigma Pensions.
Actis says it is looking to capitalise on on an increase in retirement planning in Africa’s largest economy.
Sigma Pensions Ltd, incorporated in August 2004, currently has more than 650,000 customers among the 6 million pension holders in the nation of more than 170 million people.
Acording to Actis, Sigma sits in an under-penetrated, well-regulated market that is set for rapid growth. It states that it intends to promote the brand and expand the business, which currently operates from 11 offices and 32 service centers in Nigeria.
Natalie Kolbe, Partner at Actis commented on the transaction: “Building on our extensive experience in the asset management and distribution sector, we are very excited to be investing behind a growing consumer demand for future financial protection and well-being in Nigeria. In Sigma, we have identified a well-managed, solid business with ‘best in industry’ back office, IT and operational systems and excellent customer service that can leverage these underlying secular trends.”
Sigma’s CEO, Umaru Modibbo believes that the company will benefit from the funder’s management and distribution expertise.
British-based Actis has been very active in the African market, investing more than $570 million in the African financial services sector. It has about $3 billion invested in the continent’s businesses including $300 million in Nigerian companies such as mattress maker Mouka Ltd., Diamond Bank Plc, several malls and Emerging Markets Payments Holdings Ltd., a pan-African payments business.
Actis was recently named ‘most impactful private equity firm in Nigeria’ by The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry for ‘positively impacting the Nigerian economy and changing the status quo, by developing the Nigerian private sector’.
