Dubai: The Dubai based Aman has been hit with another rejection in its plans to sell off its insurance operations, after Salama said it will not proceed with a planned transaction.
Dropping the deal means Aman will have to find another buyer for its general and group life portfolio. Earlier this month, the Abu Dhabi National Takaful Company terminated its own deal to acquire Aman’s life insurance portfolio.
Aman had wanted to exit the insurance space and recast itself as an investment holding company. It’s these plans that might have to be put on hold unless the company comes up with new buyers or other options.
It was late 2022 that Salama had announced plans to engage Aman in the portfolio buy.
According to Salama, "The completion of the acquisition was subject to certain requirements towards safeguarding and enhancing the interests of both our shareholders and policyholders. As these requirements have not been satisfactorily met, the Board of Directors of Salama have decided not to proceed any further with the intended acquisition."
"The company has therefore notified Aman of its decision to terminate the agreement in accordance with its terms and conditions." (In the recent past, Salama had decided to withdraw from a planned merger with another UAE insurer Takaful Emarat, which would have created one of the bigger insurance sector players in the country.)
On DFM, the Aman (or Dubai Islamic Insurance & Resinsurance Co.) stock is trading at Dh0.34, with the 52-week low being Dh0.31. Aman is expected to make its own announcement shortly after the deal got nixed.
On September 3, the Abu Dhabi National Takaful Co. had issued its own statement on why it won't be buying the Aman portfolio. "As the requirements for the acquisition of the portfolio have not been met, the board of directors have decided not to proceed further with the acquisition.
"The company has therefore notified Aman of its decision to terminate the agreement in accordance with its terms and conditions."
