LASACO Assurance Plc has undergone a significant change in its ownership structure after an N18.47bn rights issue, which strengthened the financial position of the insurer.
Currently, two shareholders have increased their combined stake to 87.21 per cent.
The capital-raising exercise has given Ibile Holdings Limited, an investment company owned by the Lagos State Government, majority ownership of the insurer, while Canon Properties and Investments Limited has also expanded its shareholding.
Details contained in LASACO’s nine-month financial statements showed that Ibile Holdings increased its stake from 45.93 per cent at the end of December 2025 to 51 per cent as of 30 September, 2026.
Canon Properties also raised its ownership from 24.66 per cent to 36.21 per cent during the period.
Consequently, the two investors now control 17.72 billion shares, representing 87.21 per cent of LASACO’s expanded share capital, compared with 70.58 per cent at the end of 2025, when their combined holdings stood at 7.82 billion shares.
The shift has reduced the proportion of shares held by other investors to 12.78 per cent from 21.52 per cent, although the absolute number of shares available to public investors increased from 2.39 billion to 2.60 billion.
The change in ownership followed LASACO’s rights issue, which added 9.24 billion shares to its issued capital, taking the total to 20.32 billion shares as of September 2026.
Under the offer, existing shareholders were entitled to purchase five new shares for every six shares held at N2 per share. The acceptance period ran from 2 April to 24 April, 2026.
The insurer reported approximately N18.10bn in proceeds from the exercise. Its issued share capital consequently increased from N5.54bn to N10.16bn, while share premium rose from N9.89bn to N23.37bn.
The increased concentration of ownership also puts LASACO’s free-float position in focus as the company works towards meeting the Nigerian Exchange’s requirements for companies listed on its Main Board.
Free float refers to the proportion of a listed company’s shares available for trading by public investors, excluding strategic holdings and shares held by major shareholders.
The financial statements also showed that De-Lexus Investment Limited, which held 875 million shares, representing 7.89 per cent of LASACO, at the end of 2025, was no longer listed among the substantial shareholders in the September 2026 disclosure.
Beyond the ownership changes, the capital injection coincided with an improvement in LASACO’s financial performance.
The insurer returned to profitability in the first nine months of 2026, recording a profit before tax of N1.60bn compared with a loss of N4.72bn in the corresponding period of 2025.
Profit after tax also recovered to approximately N1.25bn from a loss of N4.81bn a year earlier.
Insurance revenue grew by 3.7 per cent to N23.81bn from N22.96bn, indicating that the earnings recovery was driven largely by lower insurance-related costs rather than significant revenue expansion.