Abraaj Group Exits Turkish Insurance Company Acibadem Sigorta

The Abraaj Group said Monday that it has entered into an agreement to sell its stake in Acıbadem Sağlık ve Hayat Sigorta A.Ş. to Khazanah Nasional Berhad, a strategic investment fund run by the Government of Malaysia. No financial terms were disclosed. Lazard and Raiffeisen Investment served as financial advisors to Abraaj and the Aydınlar family, another owner of Acıbadem Sigorta, for this transaction. Also, Mehmet Ali Aydınlar will retain a 10% stake in the company and remain as chairman of Acıbadem Sigorta. Acıbadem Sigorta is a provider of health insurance services for corporate and individual clients in Turkey.

PRESS RELEASE

Istanbul, Turkey, 29 July 2013: The Abraaj Group (“Abraaj”), a leading investor operating in growth markets, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to divest its 50 per cent shareholding in Acıbadem Sağlık ve Hayat Sigorta A.Ş. (“Acıbadem Sigorta” or “the Company”) to Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”), the Government of Malaysia’s strategic investment fund.
Under the terms of the agreement, Khazanah shall acquire a combined 90 per cent shareholding in Acıbadem Sigorta from both Abraaj and Turkey’s Aydınlar family in exchange for a cash consideration. Mehmet Ali Aydınlar will retain a 10 per cent stake in the Company and will remain as Chairman of Acıbadem Sigorta. Further financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Acıbadem Sigorta is a leading provider of health insurance services for corporate and individual clients in Turkey, and has the second largest market share in the industry. The Abraaj Group, through its Funds, has helped Acıbadem Sigorta become one of the fastest growing and most profitable health insurance companies in Turkey, achieving over 30 per cent annual premium growth over the past two years and one of the highest returns on equity in the market. The Company grew its gross written premiums from TL[1] 131 million in 2010 to TL 234 million in 2012, improving its market share position in health insurance from #6 with 7% of the market in 2010 to #2[2] with over 10% of the market in 2012. Net income grew from TL 1.0 million in 2010 to TL 27.9 million in 2012, with improved profitability driven by enhanced underwriting and claims management capabilities as well as improved efficiency driven by a strong focus on the management of operating expenses and a best-in-class IT platform.
Commenting on the transaction, Selçuk Yorgancıoğlu, Partner and Region Head of Central Asia and Turkey at Abraaj, said: “The successful outcome of this transaction demonstrates our continued track record of investing in quality assets in growth markets to generate significant and attractive returns. It also marks another chapter in Abraaj’s successful collaboration with Khazanah, which has included our partnership in IHH Healthcare, one of the largest private healthcare providers in the world.”
Abraaj’s investment in Acıbadem Sigorta began in 2007, through a partnership with Mr Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, the Chairman and CEO of Acıbadem Sağlık Hizmetleri ve Ticaret A.Ş. (“Acıbadem Healthcare”), one of Turkey’s largest private healthcare groups. In January 2012, Abraaj divested its entire shareholding in Acıbadem Healthcare to IHH Healthcare Berhad (“IHH”) and Khazanah in exchange of cash and shares in IHH, while retaining its 50 per cent shareholding in Acıbadem Sigorta. Abraaj later sold its entire shareholding in IHH in July 2012 at IHH’s initial public offering, which raised US$ 2 billion, making it the third largest IPO of 2012 after Facebook and Felda Global.
The transaction is expected to be completed following regulatory approvals in Turkey and Malaysia.
Lazard and Raiffeisen Investment acted as joint financial advisors to Abraaj and the Aydınlar family on this transaction. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Kinstellar acted as joint legal advisors to Abraaj and the Aydınlar family.
THE ABRAAJ GROUP
The Abraaj Group is a leading investor operating in the growth markets of Asia, MENA, Turkey and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In 2012 it completed the merger of Aureos Capital, thereby creating the deepest bench of private equity experience across growth markets.
Employing over 300 people, the Group has over 30 offices spread across 6 regional hubs in Dubai, Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Nairobi and Singapore. Local presence across these markets provides the Group with unmatched expertise, know-how, proprietary transactional access and the ability to grow partner businesses across borders.
The Abraaj Group currently manages US$ 7.5 billion across 25 sector and country-specific Funds, encompassing private equity (majority and significant minority investments with ticket sizes between US$ 10 million to US$ 100 million) and real estate (primarily yield-generating) investments.
Funds managed by the Group have holdings in over 150 partner companies that collectively employ over 200,000 people and create sustainable value in sectors including manufacturing, education, retail, aviation, oil and gas, financial payments infrastructure, healthcare and agribusiness. The Group’s current partner companies include industry leaders such as Network International, the largest independent payment solutions provider in the Middle East and Africa, NEP Holding, with its Diamond brand and a market leader in the residential filtration market of Malaysia (with a growing presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southern China), Brookside Dairy, the leading dairy in East Africa and, Iasacorp, a long established family run women’s retail business in Peru.
The Group has set the standard for private equity investing in growth markets, having returned c. US$ 4 billion to investors from over 60 full and partial exits, providing industry leading returns across a range of companies that have emerged as today’s regional champions and tomorrow’s global challengers.
The Abraaj Group has an investor base of 300, including corporates, development finance institutions, financial institutions, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, high net worth individuals and other institutional investors from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.
The Abraaj Group is committed to the highest environmental, stakeholder engagement and corporate governance standards. The Group is a signatory to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment and the United Nations Global Compact. The Group’s founder, Arif Naqvi, was appointed to the United Nations Global Compact Board by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon in 2012. In 2013 Mr Naqvi was awarded the Oslo Business for Peace Award, one of the highest forms of recognition given to global business leaders for fostering peace and stability through creating shared values between business and society.
Through its social investing programme, The Abraaj Group has supported best in class organisations focused on entrepreneurship and job creation, healthcare, education and community engagement and thereby enabled a deep-rooted and sustainable impact on the economic landscape of the markets in which it operates.
This publication is issued by Abraaj Capital Limited (ACLD), a member of The Abraaj Group that is authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). Several Group members are regulated by a number of international regulatory authorities including the DFSA under whose rules ACLD has issued this publication.