Misr Insurance Holding Company, Misr Life Insurance, Misr Insurance, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, and Misr Financial Investment Company signed an agreement on Tuesday to establish Misr Takaful Insurance Company – Hayat with a capital of EGP 150m. Misr Insurance Holding and its subsidiary companies contribute 52% to the fund, including 12% from Misr Insurance Holding , 20% from Misr Life Insurance, and 20% from Misr Insurance. NBE contributes 24%, Banque Misr 14%, and Misr Financial Investments 10%.
Chairperson and Managing Director of Misr Insurance Holding Company Basel El Hini said that the launch of the new company with the contribution of major entities, such as the NBE and Banque Misr, is an important step in the framework of the investment plan of Misr Insurance Holding Company, to expand in the insurance sector and its companies, while providing an integrated package of Insurance and commercial solutions and services to a larger segment of customers.
For his part, the chairperson of the NBE, Hisham Okasha, emphasised that the bank’s contribution to Misr Takaful Insurance Company – Hayat comes within the framework of the bank’s interest in and expansion of non-bank financial services, either directly, or through Al-Ahli Capital.
Okasha stressed NBE’s keenness to diversify its investment portfolio, to include various economic sectors, as it owns companies operating in the financial leasing, real estate, medical sector, agricultural sector, and other companies, besides Al-Ahly Exchange Company, which was recently established by the bank, and has 32 branches.
Mohamed El-Etriby, chairperson of Banque Misr, said that the bank recently exited Egyptian Takaful Insurance Company , where it owned an 8% stake, in order to enter this new company, within the framework of the continuous cooperation between the bank and Misr Insurance Holding Company.
The agreement to establish the new company was signed by El Hini, Okasha, El-Etriby, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, chairperson and managing director of Misr Life Insurance Company, Moamen Mokhtar, chairperson and managing director of Misr Insurance Company, and Khalil Al-Bawab, co-CEO and managing director of Misr Financial Investment Company.
On the sidelines of the press conference held by Misr Insurance Holding Insurance, El Hini stressed that the company intends to maximise non-banking financial services.
He pointed out that the company intended to establish a financial leasing company, as a financial consultant was contracted to carry out a study on the feasibility of establishing this company.
He added that the completion of the financial leasing company will be followed by the establishment of a factoring company, and another for microfinance.
He explained that the company intends to expand the provision of medical insurance services, as an international reinsurance company was contracted to help prepare a study to establish a new medical insurance company.
He noted that the signed agreement between the companies were meant to discuss the management of various joint investments between the four parties, especially those that were limited and non-controlling stakes, pointing to the possibility of exiting some of these investments or increase their shares, or assign management to one party instead of the four.
He pointed out that it was already agreed, between the four parties, to exit from two companies, refusing to disclose them at the present time until the complete evaluation of the exit.
In a related context, he revealed that Misr Insurance Holding Company signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to carry out a study on the real estate portfolio owned by the company to maximise its utilisation.
He said the bank owns real estate assets and housing units with the old lease system, and seeks to maximise its benefits by transferring them to the new lease.
He also stressed that the company would not sell historical real estate assets, and a portion of it would be offered to real estate developers through an usufruct scheme for development.
In another context, he said that the company is currently preparing a study to maximise the benefit of its branch in Kuwait, with the aim of increasing its profits after experiencing losses.
He pointed out that the company’s branches in the UAE and Qatar are making good progress and are going well.
He stressed that the company prepared a study to expand in the African market, and the results of the study recommended that it is not feasible to open representative offices in African countries at the present time and replace them by concluding agreements with international insurance companies present to benefit from them.
