(NAIROBI, KENYA) – The family of the late former Central Bank of Kenya governor Philip Ndegwa is set to regain full ownership of ICEA Lion Insurance Holdings after agreeing to buy back a 24.1% stake for KES 8.5 billion ($65,600 / GBP 49,200).
First Chartered Securities, the investment vehicle controlled by the Ndegwa family, has received approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya to acquire the stake it sold to Prudential-backed LeapFrog Investments in 2021 for KES 2.4 billion ($18,500 / GBP 13,900).
The buyback values the stake at more than three times the price paid six years ago, reflecting growth in the value of ICEA Lion over the period.
Leapfrog’s exit is in line with private equity funds’ practice of holding a business for five to seven years, with an average holding period of about 6.5 years.
The transaction was cleared by the competition watchdog through a gazette notice.
“It is notified for general information that, in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Competition Authority of Kenya by Section 46 (6) (a) (ii) of the Competition Act, the Competition Authority of Kenya has authorised the proposed transaction as set out herein,” said CAK Director-General David Kemei.
Completion of the deal will give First Chartered, which already holds 75.9% of ICEA Lion, full control of the firm. ICEA Lion provides life and general insurance as well as asset and fund management through subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Mr James Ndegwa and his brother, Mr Andrew Ndegwa, serve on the ICEA board, with the former as chairman.
Prudential has held the 24.1% stake through Leapfrog Strategic Africa Investments, which in turn held it through Eastern Africa Holdings Limited, a special purpose investment vehicle incorporated in the United Kingdom.
Prudential Financial told investors in an earnings call that the exit from ICEA forms part of a broader push to redeploy capital into higher return opportunities. The firm had exited PGIM Taiwan, its global investment management business, in East Asia during the third quarter of last year.
Leapfrog has previously bought and sold stakes in insurers, including Apollo Investments Limited, the parent company of APA Life and APA General Insurance. In July last year, it sold its entire 69.9% stake in Goodlife Pharmacy to medicine distributor CFAO Healthcare, marking its exit from the retail pharmacy chain after nine years.
The ICEA Lion deal fits the Ndegwa family’s wider strategy of reshaping its investment portfolio through acquisitions, mergers and disposals. The family has interests spanning banking, manufacturing, real estate, logistics and insurance.
The Ndegwas were instrumental in the creation of NCBA Group through the 2020 merger of NIC Group and CBA Group. NCBA recently completed a cash and stock acquisition by Nedbank Group, giving the Ndegwas cash and a stake in the South Africa headquartered group.
The family has also disposed of assets over the years, including the ICEA Building in Nairobi’s central business district, which was sold to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for KES 1.8 billion ($13,900 / GBP 10,400) in 2015 and later renamed JKUAT Towers.
ICEA Lion has been growing over the past six years, posting a net profit of KES 1.16 billion ($8,950 / GBP 6,710) in the year ended December 2025, compared with KES 1.34 billion ($10,300 / GBP 7,750) in the previous year and KES 682.52 million ($5,270 / GBP 3,950) in 2020 before Prudential joined.
Over the same period, the group has been a consistent dividend payer, giving out KES 600 million ($4,630 / GBP 3,470) in 2025, up 50% from KES 400 million ($3,090 / GBP 2,310) in the previous year and three times the KES 200 million ($1,540 / GBP 1,160) paid in 2020.
The group traces its roots to 1895 and took its current structure through the 2012 merger of Insurance Company of East Africa and Lion of Kenya Insurance.
Insurance Regulatory Authority disclosures show that last year ICEA Lion Life Assurance held the second largest market share at 13.9% in long term insurance business, where market leader Britam Life holds 22.6%. In short term business, ICEA Lion General held 3.98%, making it the ninth largest.
The group has been expanding its asset management business, including ICEA Lion Asset Management acquiring Stanlib Kenya as it sought to build scale in the fund management industry.
The return to full ownership by the Ndegwa investment vehicle comes amid increased consolidation and foreign investment in Kenya’s insurance industry.
South Africa’s Absa Group in August this year agreed to sell its entire 63.32% stake in Absa Life Assurance and First Assurance Kenya Limited to First Assurance Investments Limited, in another sell back of a stake to original owners.
First Assurance Investments Limited, an investment vehicle associated with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, currently holds 16.98% and had sold the 63.3% stake in First Assurance Kenya to Absa, then Barclays Africa, in 2015 in a KES 2.2 billion ($17,000 / GBP 12,700) deal.
Discover more from Access Radio®
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
