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Actis, the British private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Abuja-based Sigma Pensions for $62 million.

In a statement released on Thursday, Actis said it is investing in Sigma Pensions to accelerate the company’s growth in Nigeria’s pension industry, which remains significantly underpenetrated with just six million pension holders in a population of about 170 million people.

“In Sigma, we have identified a well-managed, solid business with ‘best in industry’ back office, IT and operational systems and excellent customer service that can leverage these underlying secular trends,” said Natalie Kolbe, a partner at Actis.

Founded in 2004, Sigma Pensions is one of the first pension fund administrators in Nigeria with over 650,000 registered customers. The company has 11 offices and 32 service centres.

“We are delighted to welcome Actis as a new partner,” said Umar Modibbo, Sigma’s founder and Chief Executive Officer.
“With Actis’ help, we look forward to continuing our growth trajectory and creating more opportunities,”

Actis is an emerging markets-focused private equity firm, which has invested about $3 billion in African businesses across 23 countries. The company said it has invested $570 million in Africa’s financial services sector alone.

Actis, which has over $7billion in funds under management, has invested more than $300 million in Nigeria. Recently, Actis divested from Ikeja City Mall. Actis has also divested from several holdings including Diamond Bank, The Palms Mall, Mouka Limited, UAC Nigeria, and Starcomms. Actis’ current investments in Nigeria include: Heritage Place, Lagos; Jabi Lake Mall, Abuja; Seven Energy, and now Sigma Pensions.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst