Alexander Forbes has agreed to buy out EBS International, which is 25% owned by African Rainbow Capital (ARC) and has strong employee benefits and fund administration capabilities.
EBS shareholders have agreed to sell 100% of the issued share capital in the company to Alexander Forbes for an undisclosed sum subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, according to a statement on Tuesday.
Alexander Forbes said the ability of EBS employee benefits solutions to enable retirement funds to perform self-administration functions, will allow it to bolster its offering to very large retirement funds in SA and other markets in Africa.
“The acquisition of EBS will diversify and enhance the administration capabilities of Alexander Forbes significantly, providing us with an offering to self-administered retirement funds and the ability to extract more synergies across our administration platforms,” Dawie de Villiers, CEO of Alexander Forbes, said in the statement.
EBS will be run independently of Alexander Forbes but will benefit from its support and intellectual capacity to better serve its clients. Alexander Forbes is not planning on cutting any jobs should the transaction be concluded, with the company saying that “employees are assured of their job security”.
“The acquisition of EBS by Alexander Forbes will serve to enrich and broaden the market to which EBS has access but also the depth and scope of services and support EBS can offer,” said Tim Rutherford, CEO of EBS. “These synergies will benefit existing clients of EBS and Alexander Forbes and potentially open the market to new customers who seek a more comprehensive solution.”
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