Case Study - MicroEnsure

MicroEnsure is a business that provides insurance services to the world's poor and initially set up as a  social enterprise, primarily funded by the Gates Foundation . The business was owned by Opportunity International, a donor organisation based in Chicago.

James Cowper Kreston were engaged in June 2011 to advise the management and shareholders of MicroEnsure on their future funding options. Due to a change in business strategy, and the business starting to work more closely with for-profit partners (mainly Telcos), it was decided that alternative funding needed to be sought.

An investment consortium was established that comprised IFC (commercial arm of the World Bank) and the Omidyar Network (Californian based VC) and in addition the business entered into a JV with Telenor to build a business in Asia.  

The complexity in this transaction was finding a compromise in the legal documents given that the aims and objectives of the stakeholders were not completely aligned. This deal also operated across 5 time zones placing huge pressure on the James Cowper Kreston team to manage this process.