Britam Holding PLC is a leading diversified financial services group and is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The group has presence in seven Africa countries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique and Malawi. Britam offers a wide range of financial products and services which include: Asset Management, Life Assurance, Retirement Planning, General Insurance, Health Insurance, Banking and Property Insurance.

Overview

Britam's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsidiaries in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

, and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. The flagship company of the group is the Britam Holding Plc, commonly referred to by its brand name Britam Kenya. According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority report released in 2019, Britam Life Assurance was ranked first in market share with 24.7 percent.

History

1965–1999

The group's operations commenced in Kenya in 1965 with the opening of the first office in Nairobi as a foreign branch of British-American Insurance Company Limited, headquartered in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. A local company was incorporated on 14 November 1979 as British-American Insurance Company (Kenya) Limited under the Companies Act as a private limited liability company following a government directive that all branches of foreign owned insurance companies must be incorporated locally. By this time, the Company had established nine branches across Kenya. This local incorporation represented the first step in the localisation of the Company. In 1984, local Kenyan investors acquired 33.33 percent of the shareholding in line with government directives.

2000–2009

In 2004, the group incorporated British-American Asset Managers whose core business was the provision of

Investment advisory An Investment advisory, is a service that recommends certain securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries ...

and

Fund management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastru ...

services. The company offers investment funds, structured as

Unit trust A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...

s and discretionary Portfolio management, to both institutions and private clients. During the same year, the group restructured, creating a non-operating holding company. Also in 2004, Britam acquired a strategic equity stake in the Equity Group Holdings Limited. Britam made its first equity acquisition in Housing Finance Company of Kenya (the largest mortgage finance provider in East Africa) in 2007.

2010–date

2010 marked Britam's regional expansion commencing with the group's expansion into Uganda with the incorporation of ''Britam Insurance Company (Uganda) Limited'', which commenced business on 24 November 2010, following the issuance of an insurance license by the Uganda Insurance Commission. In 2011, the shares of British-American Investments Company were listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange through an undersubscribed

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

. This was largely the result of risk-averse foreign investors shunning the IPO because of the

Eurozone crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The ...

and a sluggish U.S economy. Britam Insurance Company (South Sudan) Limited was incorporated in February 2012 and is licensed to underwrite all classes of life and non-life insurance. In Rwanda, ''Britam Insurance Company (Rwanda) Limited'', was incorporated and licensed in 2013 by the

National Bank of Rwanda The National Bank of Rwanda (, ) is the central bank of Rwanda. The bank was founded in 1964. The current governor of the bank is Soraya Munyana Hakuziyaremye. Location It is quartered at the National Bank of Rwanda Building, on KN6 Avenue in ...

. On 9 December 2013, the British-American Investments Company entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement with Royal Ngao Holdings to acquire its 99 percent shareholding in Real Insurance Company Limited, a deal that was valued at KSh1.4 billion (approximately US$16 million then). 60% of the sales price was paid in cash and 40% was paid by issuance of new shares in British-American Investments Company. Real Insurance was licensed insurer carrying out

General insurance General insurance or non-life insurance policy, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance is typically defined as any insurance that is not determine ...

business in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique. It had been a player in the Kenyan insurance sector since 1910. This transaction led to the expansion of Britam to Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique. Britam and Real Insurance only had parallel insurance businesses in Kenya. The Kenyan businesses would be consolidated. The acquisition of Real Insurance was approved by the shareholders of Britam on 19 February 2014. In April 2014, the group announced its intention to acquire 30 percent of Continental Re Kenya Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Lagos-based Continental Reinsurance Plc., in a deal valued at KSh300 million (approximately US$3.4 million). This acquisition was in a bid for the group to consolidate its market share and broaden revenue sources. The acquisition will be funded by a planned bond issue. On 30 June 2014, British-American Investments Company served a takeover notice on the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the Housing Finance Company of Kenya to acquire the 24.76 percent shareholding that Equity Group Holdings Limited (EBG) held in the mortgage lender at that time. This transaction was completed on 31 December 2014 and it increased Britam's stake in Housing Finance to 46.1 percent. In June 2015, the shareholders adopted a resolution to change the company name from British-American Investments Company to Britam Holdings Limited.

Subsidiaries and investments

The companies that compose the Britam Holdings Limited are organised into four divisions and include, but are not limited, to the following:

Insurance

* Britam Life Assurance Company (Kenya) Limited –

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

– 100% Shareholding – The flagship company of the group. Offering

and

Life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

. * Britam General Insurance Company (Kenya) Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – Offering General Insurance and Holding Company for Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique subsidiaries. Real Insurance Company is the oldest member having been founded in 1910 as a subsidiary of Royal Insurance, now part of

RSA Insurance Group RSA Insurance Group Limited ( trading as RSA, formerly RSA Insurance Group plc and Royal and Sun Alliance) is a British multinational general insurance company headquartered in London, England. RSA has major operations in the United Kingdom, Ire ...

. * Britam Insurance Uganda Limited –

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

– 100% Shareholding – Offering General and Life Insurance. * Britam Insurance South Sudan Limited –

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

– 100% Shareholding – Offering General and Life Insurance. * Britam Insurance Rwanda Limited –

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

– 100% Shareholding – Offering General Insurance. * RICEA Management Services Company –

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

– 100% Shareholding – Held through ''Real Insurance Company Limited'' – Management services of the Real Insurance subsidiaries. * Britam Insurance Tanzania Limited–

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

– 54.45% Shareholding – Held through ''Real Insurance Company Limited'' – Offering General Insurance * Britam Insurance Company Malawi Limited –

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

– 64.35% Shareholding – Held through ''Real Insurance Company Limited'' – Offering General Insurance. Started operating in 1959, making it the oldest insurance company in Malawi. It was listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange on 29 September 2008 through a successful

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

that was over-subscribed by 300%. It is the only listed insurance company in Malawi. * Britam Companhia De Seguros De Mozambique, S.A –

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

– 97.02% Shareholding – Offering General Insurance

Asset Management

* British-American Asset Managers Kenya Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – Offering

Financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

Private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

and

services. * British-American Asset Managers Uganda Limited – Kampala, Uganda – 100% Shareholding – Offering financial services, investment management and investment advisory services.

Property

* Britam Properties (Kenya) Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 100% Shareholding – Real Estate and

REIT A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

s. * Britam Properties (Uganda) Limited – 100% Shareholding.

Banking Holding

* Equity Group Holdings Limited – Nairobi, Kenya – 8.2% Shareholding - A financial services organisation in Eastern Africa regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya. * Housing Finance Company of Kenya - 48.82% Shareholding - A

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

finance provider in Kenya regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya.

Ownership

In September 2017, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

, concluded the acquisition of a 10.37 percent stake in Britam, thereby gaining a seat on the company's board of directors. The shares of the

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

of Britam Holdings Limited are traded on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, under the symbol: BRIT. As of 31 December 2017, the shareholding in the company's stock, was as depicted in the table below:

Governance

Britam Holdings is governed by an eleven-person Board of Directors with Kuria Muchiru serving as the Chairman of the group , and Tom Gitogo as the Group Managing Director .

Britam Tower

Britam Tower The Britam Tower is a commercial building in Nairobi owned by British-American Investments Company (Britam). The skyscraper, the tallest building in Kenya, rises above ground, with 32 usable floors. The building features a unique prismic shap ...

is a 31-storey building located along Hospital Road in

Upper Hill, Nairobi Upper Hill is a central business district of the city of Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The district has seen an increase in major construction in recent years, with several multinational corporations setting up offices. Locat ...

which serves as the headquarters for the company. The tower is known for its prism-like shape and an adjacent 15-storey parking. Standing at 200m, it is the tallest building in Kenya and the third tallest in Africa. The tower has wind turbines that generate power for parts of the building. The complex comprises offices, banking halls, restaurants and retail stores.

Controversies

Bramer Banking Corporation Scandal

In April 2015, a US$693 million

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

in Bramer Banking Corporation hit Britam's largest shareholder British American Investment Company Mauritius Limited (BAIC). The Group moved swiftly to inform the public that the ponzi scheme did not affect their operations. However, the directors were put under investigation by the IRA. The Mauritian government appointed receiver managers at BAI Co. later announced their intention to dispose of the group's entire shareholding in Britam. Dawood Rawat moved to the

International Court of Arbitration ICC International Court of Arbitration is an institution for the resolution of international commercial disputes. It operates under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and consists of more than 100 arbitrators from rough ...

in France to block this sale. As of January 2017, the case was ongoing. Peter Munga, a Kenyan billionaire and Britam shareholder with an initial 16.96 percent shareholding acquired 23.3 percent in new shareholding that he bought from the

Government of Mauritius The Government of Mauritius () is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Mauritius. The Head of Government, head of the Government is the Prime Minister of Mauritius, who manages the main agenda of the Government and direct ...

at an undisclosed sum in June 2016, bringing his new total shareholding to 40.26 percent. At the time, Munga stated that he would dispose of the newly acquired shareholding, in approximately two years. In January 2017, the

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...

agreed to invest KSh3.5 billion (approx. US$35 million) in Britam, in exchange for 10.37 percent shareholding. The company issued 224.1 million new ordinary shares to IFC, reducing the shareholding of existing shareholders by 10.3 percent, reducing Munga's total ownership to 36.0 percent.

Recent developments

In April 2019, the

Business Daily Africa ''Business Daily Africa'', commonly known as ''Business Daily'', is an English-language daily business newspaper published in Kenya. The newspaper is published by Nation Media Group from its headquarters at Nation Centre on Kimathi Street in Nair ...

newspaper reported that the Swiss insurer,

Swiss Re Swiss Re Ltd is a Swiss reinsurance company founded in 1863 and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the world's largest reinsurers, as measured by gross premiums written. Swiss Re operates through around 80 offices in 29 countri ...

had acquired 15.79 percent in Britam Holdings Limited. Africinvest, now the largest shareholder, owns 16.2 percent. The

controls 8.8 percent. At that time, the original founders, maintained a combined 39.2 percent equity ownership in the company.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange Companies in the NSE 20 Share Index Companies based in Nairobi Multinational companies headquartered in Kenya Financial services companies of Kenya Holding companies established in 1965 Financial services companies established in 1965 Kenyan companies established in 1965