***Marks 40-year Anniversary In New Edifice
By LOVETH AZODO, Lagos
LASACO Assurance has revealed that it has received a certificate from the corporate affairs commission stating that its authorized share capital has been increased from 10billion to 20billion.
Despite the extension of deadline for recapitalization of insurance and reinsurance companies to December, 2020 by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), LASACO Assurance has vowed to meet its recapitalization plans by April, 2020.
This is just as the company celebrates 40-year anniversary in a new, magnificent building.
The Managing Director of LASACO, Segun Balogun who made this promise while speaking to journalist Tuesday in the new LASACO building in Lagos highlighted some of the company’s recapitalization plans noting that there is no cause for alarm as all is set to meet its laid out plans latest by April, 2020.H
Hestated that the company in respect to the recapitalization has resolved to reconstruct its shares.
“We currently have over 7billion Units of shares that have been sold to 37,000 Nigerians at 50k, to achieve our recapitalization plan we said the number of shares that have been issued becomes less so instead of 7billion shares that has been issued we want to reduce it to one third of 7billion, that is 2 billion plus so we still have about 8bn unit of shares unissued, what this means is that if you have one unit of shares it will automatically multiply by three, the value of one unit of share now is 30k with this the value of one unit of LASACO shares is now 90k,” He explained.
Balogun added that the company also needed to increase its authorized share capital from 10bn unit to 20bn unit. “We just got a certificate from coperate affairs commission saying that our authorized share capital has been increased from 10bn to 20bn unit. It means we have up to 18bn unit of shares to issue,” he revealed.
In his optimism, Balogun noted that the company’s shareholders will bring in 70 percent of the money needed to actualize its plan.
“The issue of where the money will come from, as a company 50percent of our shareholders control up to 70percent of the shares and we have the top 10 controlling almost 60percent so we engage the 10 percent shareholders that this is the plan and they assured us that they are with us all the way.
“We will offer right and do private placement because there are individuals that have showed interest to buy into LASACO what we are waiting for is this document to come to the public to raise money,” he said.
Furthermore, he said “We also have contingency plans that are very clear and possibly, incase of any failure which we don’t expect.
‘In respect to recapitalization we are about 4bn going to 18bn because this is a composite company so we are looking for almost 13.4 bn and out of this we are very clear that70 percent of the money is coming from these major shareholders so the balance of 30percent we are looking at will be done privately,” he stated.
On the extension of recapitalization deadline, he said “Good enough NAICOM extended the deadline for recapitalization however for us in LASACO we are still working as if our deadline is june, so by April 2020 all things working well we should be done with the plans”
On its 40-year anniversary program, he said “LASACO is now a big adult, instead of hosting a party we decided that the impact of LASACO at 40 would last for a long period of time and since we turned 40 in 20th December, 2019 we are going to be 40 until 20th December, 2020 so we decided that the anniversary should not be a one off thing, we should have series of events, we will be doing an enlightment program to educate people about insurance in Nigeria and lots more.
Commenting on the new LASACO edifice, he said that the building can be compared to any modern office or infrastructure in Nigeria noting that the building is 90percent completed and would be 100percent completed in less than a week.
Speaking on the company’s future plans he revealed that they will into other businesses to augment the income made from insurance. “Our plan is to be a player in the real estate, hospitality industry and digital.
It would be recalled that LASACO had in 2007, during the last recapitalization exercise aquired ELMAC to scale through the exercise.
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