EFU Life drops its plan to buy Karachi insurtech Waada Digital
The listed life insurer told the stock exchange that its board and Waada agreed not to proceed, more than three months after it first said it would consider buying the whole company.
EFU Life Assurance has walked away from buying Waada Digital, the Karachi insurtech that sells low cost, Shariah compliant policies through telecom, bank and retail partners. In a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 12 October, the life insurer said its board had decided, by mutual agreement with Waada, not to go ahead with buying 100 percent of its issued share capital. EFU General Insurance, EFU Life's parent, filed its own disclosure on 13 October.
The deal never got past its first stage. On 29 June, EFU Life told the exchange that its board had approved considering an acquisition of Waada Digital (Private) Limited, subject to due diligence, negotiation of definitive documents and corporate and regulatory approvals. No price was disclosed at any point, and the October notices give no reason for ending the talks.
What Waada built
Waada was founded in 2020 by Ishaq Kothawala. It sells personal accident, hospital cash, life and mobile phone insurance, describes its products as 100 percent Shariah compliant, and charges pay as you go premiums. Its website lists Jazz, Khushhali Bank, PTCL, Telenor, Ubank, Ufone and Zong among its distribution partners and says claims are settled within 48 hours. A logo strip on the site also shows Kashf, JazzCash, UPaisa, Habib Insurance, Yango and inDrive.
The company says it has 11,566,893 active policyholders and has settled 14,869 claims. It also sells partners the plumbing: technology integration, policy management and claims processing, so that a telecom operator or a bank can offer insurance to its own customers.
Waada has grown by buying as well. In November 2022 it took over MicroEnsure Pakistan, a unit of MIC Global, in an all stock deal whose value was not disclosed, creating a business with 1.5 million active customers between them. Around the same time it raised a $1.3 million seed round from local angel investors and foreign venture capital firms.
What EFU Life would have gained
EFU Life is a subsidiary of EFU General Insurance. Waada targets underserved and emerging consumer segments, and Profit described it as a company that has spent six years trying to make insurance accessible. A purchase would have put that distribution network inside a listed insurer.
The June approval was only permission to explore a deal, and neither company has said what the months of talks turned up. With the 12 October notice, the process that began on 29 June has formally ended.
