Clyde & Co and Trowers & Hamlins have advised on the acquisition of Omani insurance company Al Ahlia Insurance by the UK’s Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance (RSA). According to both firms, the transaction marks the start of further consolidation that will happen among Middle East insurance companies in the next 18 months.
Clyde & Co partners James O’Shea and Peter Hodgins (pictured) advised RSA on the US$42m acquisition, while Trowers & Hamlins Oman-based partner Charles Schofield advised Al Ahlia.
“The Middle East region has now become a priority for investment by global insurance and re-insurance players,” said Clyde & Co’s James O’Shea. “We believe that the coming years will see a major wave of consolidation and M&A activity in the sector as the industry seeks to capitalise on the potential created by the growth in the market for more sophisticated insurance services in both the retail and commercial insurance sectors.”
Trowers partner Charles Schofield agreed, adding that the consolidation activity in Oman will be driven by the oversupply of insurance companies compared to population. “The insurance market in Oman is traditionally fractured, there are more than 25 companies that are writing car insurance here for a small population of around 2.5 million,” he said.
Schofield said that further insurance M&As will be supported on a regulatory level in Oman. “There is a stated ambition in Oman [to promote] more consolidation, as what they’d like to see is a few larger players, rather than many smaller ones,” he said.
Clyde & Co is also advising Qatar on a new health insurance law.
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