The creation of a long-term active asset management relationship between SA’s largest money manager Ninety One and Sanlam Life Insurance is a step closer to fulfilment, with the
imminent completion of the UK component of the transaction.
Ninety One, which shed its Investec Asset Management identity five years ago, will become Sanlam’s primary active investment manager, gaining access to an extensive retail distribution network after entering into the deal in November. The company expects to complete the deal in the 2026 financial year.
The deal will provide Ninety One access to R400bn in new assets under management.
Ninety One said on Friday that the UK component of the transaction, which involves the transfer of Sanlam Investments (SI) UK’s active asset management business to Ninety One UK and the appointment of Ninety One UK as the primary active asset manager for a specified portion of SI UK’s assets under management, is expected to complete on June 16.
Ninety One plc will issue and allot 13,675,595 ordinary shares to SI UK as consideration for the transaction.
Ninety One founder and CEO Hendrik du Toit said at the time of announcing the deal in November last year that authorities should view the deal as the group’s reinvesting in SA — a sign of confidence in the economy. He said small asset managers still had a role to play in the SA asset management industry, and it was important to ensure they were not pushed aside.
A deal between Ninety One and SA’s largest non-banking group would see the acquisition of all the issued shares in SIM, an investment management business wholly owned by Sanlam Investment Holdings, in which the Sanlam Group holds an effective 65.6% interest. After implementation, SIM would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ninety One.
In addition, Sanlam would appoint Ninety One as the permanent investment manager to manage assets for Sanlam Investments UK, a wholly owned unit of the Sanlam Group. Sanlam would serve as an anchor investor in Ninety One’s international private and specialist credit strategies that meet its investment requirements.
As consideration for the transaction, the Sanlam Group would receive an equity stake of about 12.3% in Ninety One through a combination of Ninety One Ltd and Ninety One Plc shares, thereby establishing the Sanlam Group as a long-term shareholder of Ninety One.
With Kabelo Khumalo
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