Mudavadi and Timamy-Linked Firm Moves to Buy Absa’s 63.3% Insurance Stakes

First Assurance Investments Limited has agreed to acquire Absa Group’s 63.3 per cent majority stakes in Absa Life Assurance Kenya and First Assurance Company Limited, a deal reported to be worth an estimated KSh 3 billion.

Absa announced the transaction in August 2026 without disclosing the contract price. The KSh 3 billion estimate comes from a Business Daily report, which also put the combined valuation of the two insurers at approximately KSh 4.77 billion. The parties have not publicly confirmed the figure.

The acquisition is subject to clearance from the Competition Authority of Kenya. Both sides have said they target completion before the end of the current financial year, with no specific date given. Until approval is granted, the deal remains a proposal rather than a completed transaction.

First Assurance Investments Limited is associated with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Lamu Governor Issa Timamy. According to public registry records cited in the report, Exclusive Holding Limited, a firm linked to Timamy, holds a 47.5 per cent stake in the investment vehicle. The remaining 52.5 per cent is held through Syndicate Nominees, which Mudavadi disclosed during his 2022 Cabinet vetting as his own company.

Mudavadi also holds a direct 12.35 per cent interest in First Assurance Company Limited through Syndicate Nominees. Combined with the investment vehicle’s interest, he holds an effective stake of 21.26 per cent in the insurance business, according to the registry records cited in the report.

Other shareholders in the insurer include Stephen Githiga, the former chief executive of First Assurance, and Sasini, each holding 4 per cent. Chandaria Ventures Limited, associated with Darshan and Neer Chandaria, holds 1.67 per cent, while Epoch Investments Limited, linked to Jambojet chairman Ayisi Makatiani, and Absa Pension Services Limited each hold 0.84 per cent.

The transaction would return the two insurers to shareholders who sold to Absa in 2015, when the lender operated under the Barclays Africa brand, for KSh 2.2 billion.

First Assurance Company Limited was established in 1930 as Prudential Assurance Company before Kenyan investors acquired the entire business from its British owners in 1991.

The Competition Authority of Kenya will assess whether the acquisition meets the country’s competition and public interest tests before the parties can conclude the deal.

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