COLOMBO: Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) announced that it has successfully completed the amalgamation of Fairfirst Insurance Limited (Fairfirst) and Union Assurance General Limited (UAG). The amalgamated entity will operate as Fairfirst Insurance Limited with effect from 28th February 2017. Rights and obligations arising from all insurance policies issued by Union Assurance General Limited will continue to be honored by Fairfirst Insurance Limited, the company said in a statement. UAG, a company in which Fairfax holds a majority stake since January 2015, had acquired 100 percent shares of Asian Alliance General Insurance Limited (AAGI) in October 2016 and subsequently rebranded it as Fairfirst Insurance Limited. Fairfirst has since been operating as a fully owned subsidiary of UAG. With multi-distribution capabilities, an experienced workforce of over 1,400 spread across 57 service centers, this consolidation strengthens the Fairfax Group’s position in the Sri Lankan insurance sector, the company said .
Fairfirst includes capabilities in delivering insurance solutions in Motor and Health and it maintains leadership position in most business insurances like marine, fleets, property, liability, construction, engineering, etc, the company added. “We see great potential in the Sri Lankan insurance market” said Sanjeev Jha, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Fairfirst Insurance Limited. “The amalgamated entity Fairfirst Insurance, allows us to leverage on the combined strengths of the former Union Assurance General and Asian Alliance General. We have a fantastic team that continues to invest in improving capabilities towards delivering more award winning insurance solutions via efficient and relevant delivery.” Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management. As at December 2016, this Toronto headquartered group, had assets amounting to approximately USD 43billion and revenue of approximately USD 9.5 billion.
