Sagicor Life Inc. and Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited are to merge under a single Caribbean holding company in a landmark move that will create one of the region’s largest financial services groups, combining assets of nearly $14 bn (US$7bn), the companies said Tuesday.
Sagicor Life Inc. said its parent company, Sagicor Financial Company Ltd, had entered into an agreement with Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited to combine the two entities under Sagicor Group Caribbean.
The combined business would have more than US$6.9bn in total assets and over US$1.3bn ($2.6bn) in total revenues for the 12 months ended September 30. Following completion of the transaction, Sagicor Financial’s ownership stake in the Sagicor Group Caribbean is expected to increase from 49 per cent to approximately 55 per cent, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
At a press briefing, the president and chief executive officer of Sagicor Financial Company Ltd., Andre Mousseau, said the merger would better position the group to pursue growth across the region.
“The combined entity will have significantly more scale, and will be fully capitalised with a mission to grow in the Caribbean, and there are multiple avenues for that growth,” Mousseau told reporters.
The president and CEO of Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited, Christopher Zacca, said the increased scale would allow for faster technological advancement and improved service delivery.
Zacca said: “Our clients will be better served, we’ll be more seamless, and our internal processes will be improved, and that to us will allow us to take larger market share, both in Jamaica as well as the rest of the Caribbean.”
He also pointed to the group’s intention to expand its suite of services across the region.
“We’re a diversified financial group, and we look forward to supporting our colleagues in the Caribbean in terms of moving some of our other financial services into a pan-Caribbean set of financial services.”
The group president and CEO of Sagicor Life Inc., Robert Trestrail, said the merger would help the Barbados-based insurer build on its leadership position, while expanding access to financial services across the region.
Trestrail said: “While we have positioned ourselves as a leader in the insurance sector, there are several opportunities to continue that growth to meet the needs of the underserved in the region.”
He said the group also intended to broaden its product mix and introduce new technologies.
Under the proposed structure, Sagicor Group Caribbean will replace Sagicor Group Jamaica as the company listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Dodridge Miller is expected to be nominated as chair of the new holding company, while Zacca will serve as CEO. Trestrail will continue as president and CEO of Sagicor Life Inc.
Sagicor said there would be no immediate changes to roles, service channels, policies, benefits, or client interactions, and that claims processing and payments would continue uninterrupted. The merger is expected to close in 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Sagicor traces its roots to the Barbados Mutual Life Assurance Society, founded in 1840 as one of the earliest life insurers in the English-speaking Caribbean; operating for more than a century as a mutual before demutualising in 2002, rebranding as Sagicor Financial Corporation and listing on regional stock exchanges as it evolved into a shareholder-owned regional group.
In Jamaica, its story centres on Life of Jamaica Limited, established in 1970 as the country’s first locally owned life insurance company and the first life insurer to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, which later became part of the Sagicor family and grew into Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited, offering banking, insurance, investments, asset management and retirement planning services.
Together, the Barbadian and Jamaican arms now anchor a wider Sagicor network, spanning more than 20 countries across the Caribbean, Latin America and North America.
(SM)
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