LifeStar Holding has increased its shareholding in its insurance subsidiary LifeStar Insurance past the 75 per cent mark.
The holding company acquired 759,541 shares in Lifestar Insurance plc on January 14, it announced in a statement to the market on Wednesday.
The share acquisition bumps the holding company’s stake in the company up to 75.4 per cent, effectively granting it absolute control of the firm by surpassing the 75 per cent threshold established by law required to pass extraordinary company resolutions.
It remains unclear whether LifeStar Holding intends to take its subsidiary private: regulatory capital market rules require publicly-listed companies to make at least 25 per cent of their shares available to the public.
LifeStar Holding had given notice to shareholders last November that it intended to buy back its subsidiary’s shares, saying at the time that it believed LifeStar Insurance shares to be significantly undervalued. At the time, LifeStar Insurance shares were trading at around €0.40c, versus the €1 valuation LifeStar Holding attributed to them. Shares closed trading at €0.65c on Wednesday.
In December, the holding company acquired just over 50,000 of the insurance subsidiary’s shares.
LifeStar Insurance was first listed in 2021, following an Initial Public Offering by LifeStar Holding, which used money raised from that listing to pay off bondholders.
LifeStar Holding runs a group of Malta-based firms offering a range of insurance products. The group comprises LifeStar Insurance plc, LifeStar Health Limited, and GlobalCapital Financial Management Limited.
The company reported an after-tax loss of €598,000 in 2024, attributing that to restructuring costs and resolving legacy issues within the group. Total assets were up 8% to €152 million with the company also expanding into Italy and Montenegro that year.
