Old Mutual Spends Bulk of Africa War Chest on UAP Stake in Kenya

Old Mutual Plc, which earmarked 4.3 billion rand ($374 million) for acquisitions in Africa, increased its stake in Kenya’s UAP Holdings Ltd., meaning that the insurer has now spent more than half of that war chest.

Old Mutual, which is expanding in Africa to profit from the continent’s fastest-growing economies, will now hold 60.7 percent of UAP after purchasing a further 37.3 percent stake for $155.5 million in cash, the London-based insurer said in a statement Monday. The transaction takes its investment in UAP this month to $253 million.