Dar Al Takaful (DAT) and Watania announced the completion of their merger effective on 1 July 2022 pursuant to the merger plan announced on 3 March 2022, and after meeting all required regulatory and shareholders’ approvals.
Key highlights
- Merger creates DAT as one of the leading national Takaful providers in the UAE
- Step change in scale with significant potential for cost and revenue synergies
- The merged company with a total share capital of AED 260 million begins trading on the DFM today
- Significant expansion of geographic footprint and addressable market
- 100% of clients are retained at the completion of the merger
- Over 100 brokers and aggregators across the broadened partner network
- All senior executives from both companies retained, the leadership team carries extensive experience and knowledge of the Takaful industry
- New board of directors chaired by Dr. Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Aldhaheri includes directors from overseas markets to support with the vision of the company to explore future growth opportunities beyond the UAE
- Emirates NBD Capital acted as the sole financial advisor, Hadef and Partners acted as the legal advisor to Watania, Ibrahim and Partners acted as the legal advisor to DAT, KPMG acted as the sole valuation and financial due diligence advisor, Milliman acted as the sole actuarial advisor on the transaction, and on the integration, PwC is acting as the integration partner and Cedar Management Consulting International as the IT consulting partner
Merged entity begins trading on DFM
As part of the merger completion process, trading in Watania shares on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has ceased as of the closing of the trading session on Wednesday 15 June 2022 and the company officially delisted from the ADX on 30 June 2022, following receipt of the merger certificate issued by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
As a result, Watania shareholders received 0.734375 DAT shares for every Watania share that they owned, to create one of the leading national (Takaful) Islamic Insurance providers, DAT, with total issued share capital of AED 260,156,250. The merged company is trading on the DFM under the ticker DARTAKAFUL, starting from 4 July 2022.
To commemorate this significant milestone, the new board of directors including Dr. Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Aldhaheri as Chairman, Mr. Matar Hamdan Sultan Hamad Al Ameri, as Vice Chairman as well as Board Member Mr. Abdullah Osseiran, were joined by Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai for a bell ringing ceremony at market open this morning.
Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, said: “We are delighted to host this special bell-ringing ceremony on the occasion of the accomplishment of Dar Al Takaful’s merger with National Takaful “Watania”. Dar Al Takaful has been amongst the leading listed companies on DFM since 2008 and its commitment to take this momentous journey with DFM a step farther as the listing venue for the newly merged entity underscores its deep-rooted confidence towards our world-class and comprehensive market place.”
Dr. Ali Saeed Bin Harmal Aldhaheri, Chairman of DAT, said: “I am thrilled that we have formally become one company with one purpose, one culture and one common vision for the future. We believe DAT has a clear strategic direction to create long term sustainable value for our shareholders, partners and employees, and ultimately deliver protection and financial security to our Participants (policyholders) when they need it most.
As the Takaful sector undergoes a significant transformation to move away from fragmentation towards consolidation, this merger has formed a scalable organization with a client-centric and data-led approach to address the evolving needs of Participants and to become the trusted ‘go-to’ partner for all our stakeholders.
Our merger brought together two successful businesses to form a Takaful insurance powerhouse able to leverage economies of scale to develop innovative Islamic insurance solutions in ways the market has yet to see. DAT will focus on deepening our customer reach and activities across the UAE, while also seeking opportunities to take our expertise overseas, particularly into the fragmented GCC market.”
Step change in scale and service offering
Gautam Datta will continue in his role as the Chief Executive Officer of DAT, supported by a senior leadership team comprising of highly experienced and talented executives with a wealth of substantial combined expertise within the merging entities and the Takaful sector.
The leadership team will drive DAT’s expansion, innovation, and development as one of the new leaders in the Takaful sector in the UAE, paving the way for further growth across the GCC region and beyond in the future.
Through the merger, DAT is strongly positioned to benefit from the realization of significant cost and revenue synergies, reduced operating expenses and better IT platforms to expand its product offerings and geographical footprint, while maintaining its competitive edge in the market and enhancing its service excellence.
The company will also leverage its future-looking operating model to optimize sales channels and cross-selling opportunities through increased geographic reach and by capitalizing on its larger underwriting capacity, to improve Re-Takaful / reinsurance terms and offer reliable, more comprehensive, and favorable coverage for Participants across a number of differentiated products.
Gautam Datta, Chief Executive Officer of DAT, said: “We have the vision and deep expertise to immediately start executing our ambitious plans to build a national and regional Takaful leader that is strongly committed to product innovation, service excellence, productivity, and shareholder value creation.
Our merger delivered a step change in DAT’s scale and enhanced our financial strength and resilience. Driven by the rich combined talent pool, expanded infrastructure and partner network, and importantly our powerful data-led approach, DAT is very well positioned to reach and meet the needs of a wider client base in the UAE addressable market and beyond.
The Takaful / insurance industry is on a growth trajectory as the region emerges into a new era following the worst impacts of the pandemic. We are building a strong, scalable, and adaptable business model that is based on best practices and underpinned by clear values that will be able to meet the changing demands of customers and the overall market.”
