Fairfax to invest $860m in expansion of insurance business in Middle East

Prem Watsa’s  Fairfax Financial Holdings is acquiring a majority stake in one of the leading players in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market with key presence in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt, in a bid to expand its insurance operations in the region.

Fairfax has entered into an agreement with Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO) to acquire all of its shares in Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) for approximately $860 million.

KIPCO will sell 46.32% of the equity of GIG to Fairfax, thereby raising Fairfax’s ownership in GIG from 43.69% to 90.01%.

The transaction is subject to the receipt of all necessary approvals from applicable regulators and expected to close in the second half of 2023.

“We are excited to increase our ownership interest in GIG,” said Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax. “GIG is among the largest and most diversified insurance groups in the Middle East and North Africa region, with operations in 13 different countries and a market-leading presence in each of Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt.2

“Since our first investment in 2010, GIG has proven to be a great company. It has provided stellar results over the long term and is run by an experienced and talented management team led by Khaled Saoud Al Hasan. We are thankful to our partners at KIPCO for giving us this opportunity to expand our insurance operations in the rapidly growing Middle East and North Africa market,” he added.

Khaled Saoud al Hasan, Group CEO of Gulf Insurance Group, said: “With this transaction Fairfax is showing its long-term commitment to the GCC markets and to the GIG Group that has recently posted a net profit of $124.7 million for the financial year 2022.

“We will continue to work with our decentralised operating model that allows all subsidiaries to operate independently, while benefiting from Fairfax’s knowledge and collective experience in over 40 markets around the world.”

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