The creation of a long-term active asset management relationship between South Africa’s largest money manager, Ninety One, and Sanlam Life Insurance is a step closer to fulfilment, with the imminent completion of the South African component of the transaction.
The companies said on Friday the local component of the transaction is expected to be completed on Monday, February 2. The UK component was completed in June last year.
The South African transaction involves, among other things, the acquisition by Ninety One Limited of all the shares in Sanlam Investment Management and the creation of the initial 15-year strategic relationship between Ninety One and the Sanlam Group.
The relationship will commence on completion of the South African transaction.
In consideration for the South African transaction, Ninety One will issue and allot 32,832,475 Ninety One plc shares and 66,592,115 Ninety One Limited shares to Sanlam Investment Holdings and 12,594,619 ordinary Ninety One plc shares to Sanlam Life Insurance, the companies said.
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 2024.
The company said at the time it expected to complete the deal in the 2026 financial year.
The deal will provide Ninety One access to R400bn in new assets under management.
The UK component of the transaction, which involved 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, was completed in June.
Ninety One plc issued and allotted 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 2024 that authorities should view the deal as the group’s reinvesting in South Africa — a sign of confidence in the economy.
In September, South Africa’s Competition Tribunal set yet-to-be-specified transformation conditions to approve the mega asset management deal.
The tribunal approved the merger subject to a range of conditions designed to “safeguard competition, protect employees and promote transformation” — conditions that have become the norm in large mergers in South Africa.
“Among others, these involve confidentiality and information-sharing protocols, business separation measures, a moratorium on merger-related retrenchments, support for transformation initiatives aimed at facilitating the participation of small and HDP [historically disadvantaged persons]-owned asset management firms and stockbrokers, and enterprise and supplier development commitments,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal did not release the full reasons for approving the merger with the conditions; these might be made public later. However, the approval of the deal by the Competition Commission last month shows the merging parties tendered the transformation aspect of the deal.
With Kabelo Khumalo
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