LeapFrog Strategic Africa Investments (LSAI) has agreed to acquire a 24% stake in ICEA LION Insurance Holdings (ICEA LION Holdings).

The investment in ICEA LION Holdings will be made by Eastern Africa Holdings, a wholly LSAI owned special purpose entity.

ICEA LION Holdings is the non-operating holding company of the ICEA LION Group.

The Group is primarily involved in insurance and asset management across East Africa and comprises the following main operating subsidiaries: ICEA LION Life Assurance Company (Kenya); CEA LION General Insurance Company (Kenya); ICEA LION Asset Management (Kenya); ITSL Trust Company (Kenya); ICEA LION General Insurance Company (Tanzania); ICEA Life Assurance Company (Uganda); ICEA General Insurance Company (Uganda); and ICEA Asset Management (Uganda).

LSAI is an investment partnership established in 2016 between LeapFrog Investments and the US based global financial services provider Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI) that functions as a $350m separate managed fund.

The objective of the LSAI fund is to identify and make strategic investments in high quality financial services companies in selected African geographies.

The first investment of LSAI was an investment into the Enterprise Group in Ghana that was concluded in August 2017.

The ICEA LION Holdings transaction will be the second investment of the LSAI fund.

ICEA LION Holdings identified a strategic partnership with LeapFrog and PFI as being very suitable on account of their deep financial sector knowledge as well as their extensive experience working with financial service firms across the globe.

These attributes are expected to provide positive leverage for the Group’s customers as well as shareholders, and also benefit the wider insurance sector as new innovations arise and penetration is enhanced.

The partnership is expected to support the ICEA LION Group’s strategy of focusing on customer connectivity, growth and innovation, digitization, development of new products and enhancement of operating synergies throughout its various operations.

The ICEA LION Group has a top tier market position, strong financial base, an experienced management team and a rich legacy of sound business practices since 1895.

The Group is run with a strong commitment to good governance and ethical values.