Principle confirms sale of Salaam Halal

Principle Insurance Holdings, parent company of the UK’s first Shariah compliant insurance group, has announced the conditional sale of its subsidiaries, Principle Insurance Company Limited (PICL) and Principle Marketing Services Limited (PMSL), to Al Salam Group Holding Company K.S.C.C.

Al Salam is a member company of the Kuwait-based Al Madina Group and has bought the businesses for an undisclosed sum.

The Principle Group, which traded under the Salaam Halal insurance brand, was originally authorised by the Financial Services Authority in April 2008 and entered into solvent run-off in October 2009. Al Salam will now apply to the FSA for a change of control and PICL and PMSL will apply for a variation of their permissions which, if approved, would allow them to recommence trading.

Al Salam is already a shareholder in Principle through its sister company, Ekttitab Holding Company S.A.K.C. Al Salam said it plans to issue an announcement tomorrow to the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange (KSE) regarding the transaction. Al Madina will be making an announcement to KSE and to the Dubai Stock Exchange (DIFX), on which it is also listed.

Bradley Brandon-Cross, chief executive of Principle Insurance Holdings Limited, said: “We are very pleased to announce this important and significant step and very much hope that it will lead to the reintroduction of our Shariah compliant insurance to the UK market. However, there is much work to do in re-starting the business. In the meantime, our status has not changed. We are still in a period of solvent run-off, which means that while we continue to offer existing policyholders our full support, we are not providing any further policies to new or existing customers at this time.”