6th Jun 2007 09:00
Prudential PLC06 June 2007 PRUDENTIAL PLC AND BANK ALJAZIRA AGREE NEW SAUDI ARABIAN TAKAFUL VENTURE DATE: 6 June 2007 Prudential plc (United Kingdom) and Bank Aljazira (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)announced today they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreeing toPrudential plc taking a 39 per cent stake, and becoming the largest individualshareholder, in a new venture that will acquire the existing, market leading,Takaful Ta'awuni life insurance business of Bank Aljazira. The new TakafulTa'awuni life insurance operation will be listed on the Saudi Arabian StockExchange (the Tadawul). The Saudi Arabian insurance market is currently relatively small with anestimated £800m in annual gross premiums and with more than 70 per cent of thisbeing related to motor, medical and property insurance. However, with GDP percapita now exceeding £6,700 and life insurance penetration of less than onepercent, there is significant room for growth. Bank Aljazira has a unique, wellestablished and market leading Takaful Ta'awuni life insurance division,however, under new Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) insurance regulations itis now required to separate this operation from the bank and establish a newstock holding company. This has created an ideal opportunity for Prudential plc to leverage itsinternational expertise and Bank Aljazira's excellent platform to take thedevelopment of this business to the next level. Barry Stowe, Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia, commented: "We havea terrific track record of working very well with leading local players tocreate world class operations and I look forward to another success here inSaudi Arabia with Bank Aljazira." Mishari Al Mishari, Chief Executive Officer of Bank Aljazira, added: "Theinsurance market in Saudi Arabia is really set to take off and we believePrudential plc will be excellent partners as this business enters its next phaseof growth and development." Prudential plc will also take a stake in Bank Aljazira's new funds managementbusiness. The new ventures are expected to launch later this year, subject to regulatoryapprovals. The MoU between Prudential plc and Bank Aljazira also agrees that a successfulTakaful operation in KSA will potentially become a strong base for jointlyexpanding the Takaful Ta'awuni business throughout the Middle East and NorthAfrica. Contacts:Prudential Corporation Asia Bank AljaziraHoward Green Abdullah KishekHead of Investor Relations, Asia AGM-Finance Phone: +852 29186306 Phone: +9662 651 8070 x 2010Fax: +852 3112 0005 Fax : +9662 652 1072Email: [email protected] Email : [email protected] Prudential plc* (United Kingdom) About Prudential Established in London in 1848, Prudential plc is a leading internationalfinancial group providing retail financial services and fund management in itschosen markets: the United Kingdom, the United States, Asia and continentalEurope. Prudential has been writing life insurance in the United Kingdom for 160years. Today, Prudential has over 21 million customers worldwide and overUS$490 (£251) billion of funds under management. Prudential plc's strong mix of businesses around the world positions us well tobenefit from the growth in customer demand for asset accumulation and income inretirement. Our international reach and diversity of earnings by geographicregion and product will continue to give us significant advantage. Prudential has brought to market an integrated range of financial servicesproducts that now includes life assurance, pensions, mutual funds, banking,investment management and general insurance. Under the Prudential Group are a number of well-respected brands including inthe UK where Prudential is a leading life and pensions provider and M&G is aleading retail fund manager. In the US, Jackson National Life, is a leadingprovider of long-term savings and retirement products to retail andinstitutional customers. Prudential Corporation Asia is the leadingEuropean-based life insurer with life insurance and fund management operationsin 13 markets. * Prudential plc is a company incorporated in England with its head office inLondon, which, with its affiliated companies constitutes one of the world'sleading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial servicesdirectly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. Ithas been in existence for over 150 years and had £250.7 billion in assets undermanagement as at 31 December 2006. Prudential plc is not affiliated in anymanner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place ofbusiness is in the United States of America About Bank Aljazira Bank AlJazira is a Saudi bank headquartered in Jeddah and conducting all itsbusinesses in compliance with the Islamic Shari'ah. It provides affluentindividuals, businesses and institutions with innovative products and servicesin the areas of corporate, commercial, retail and private banking, internationaland local brokerage, Islamic Life insurance and investment funds. The bank has shown substantial growth in recent years with total assetsincreasing over 300% from SR 5,110 million at the end of 2001 to SR 15,713million at the end of 2006 and net profit growing by over 3000% from SR 57.4million in 2001 to SR 1,974 million in 2006. The Takaful Ta'awuni Division (TTD) of Bank Aljazira, the first SAMA approvedlife Takaful operator, was officially launched by the bank in 2001, marking itsentry into the green field takaful market within the Kingdom. Utilising theconcept of a Wakala (agency) contract for the first time by a Takaful operator(and now the standard operating contract in Takaful) worldwide, TTD providesShari'ah compliant risk protection and savings products to the general publicand corporations in the Kingdom. Today, TTD has become a proven and viableTakaful operator in the Kingdom, as well as being highly respected throughoutthe Islamic Financial Services industry for its innovative work undertaken inthe field of Takaful. The TTD of Bank Aljazira is a wholly developed Saudientity In April 2007, the bank won the "The 2007 Middle East Insurance Award" for "LifeInsurer of the Year". As a Life Takaful operator, the bank was honoured to havereceived this award in recognition of its achievements not only in the Takafulindustry, but in the life insurance industry in general. This prestigious awardwas preceded by the "Euromoney 2006" award for "Best Life Takaful Operator" andthe "Islamic Finance Weekly 2004" award for "Best Takaful Operator". This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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