Shareholders of Unic Insurance Plc are officially beneficial owners of a new company named Unic Diversified Holdings Ltd. This was made known via a press release issued published in the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange by Unic.
Here is an excerpt of the press release
Unic Diversified Holdings Plc is a new company that was incorporated in September 11, 2015 by the shareholder of the former Unic Insurance Plc (now Unic Insurance Ltd after being delisted) through restructuring of Unic Insurance Group.
The restructuring arrangement involves the shareholders of the former Unic Insurance Ltd becoming the shareholders of Unic Diversified Holdings Plc which will hold minority interest in Unic Insurance Ltd by divesting the majority interest in Unic Insurance Ltd to a third party investor.
All necessary approvals in satisfaction of all necessary statutes have been applied for and received.
Presently, all arrangements to transfer agreed assets and liabilities from Unic Insurance Ltd to this company are in progress and will be concluded soon.
What does this mean?
If you recall, Unic Plc was de-listed from the Nigerian Stock Exchange in April 2017 after years of going without releasing any results. The company also recently got acquired by Liberty Mutual in February this year. Liberty Mutual is thought to have acquired about 70% of the equity of the company.
Based on this, the shareholders of Unic (before it was acquired by Liberty Mutual) which has now changed to Unic Diversified Holdings will now own 25% of their former company. The arrangement suggest, the former managers of Unic Diversified are looking to start afresh, with 25% of what they used to own their only asset for now while they explore other opportunities. The company also confirmed this in the press release;
The principal activities of the company are to carry on finance holding company and to invest and hold shares in blue chip companies but the company is not in full operations yet till when all arrangements are concluded.
This arrangement is a long new chapter for shareholders of Unic Diversified Holdings who have had to endure years of drought in return on investments. Having gone almost a decade without dividends or capital appreciation they will now have to wait a few more years in the hope that the new holdco post positive earnings.
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