Sanlam's acquisition of SAHAM Finances has a pricetag of R12.5 billion.
In a deal that will make it the largest non-banking financial services group in Africa, Sanlam will be acquiring Moroccan insurance group SAHAM Finances in its entirety. Junior Ngulube, chief executive of Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM), has said that the transaction is in line with Sanlam’s strategy to become the leading insurer on the continent.
Sanlam, together with subsidiary Santam, first acquired a joint 30-percent stake in SAHAM in 2016; a stake it increased by a further 16.6 percent in 2017. Sanlam will now buy out the remaining 53.37-percent shareholding for $1.05 billion.
The deal, worth approximately R12.5 billion, will be the largest insurance transaction that Africa has ever seen, and the second-largest in financial services (following Absa’s purchasing of Barclays PLC’s African operations for R18.3 billion in 2012).
