Sanlam and asset manager Ninety One team up with R5bn share deal

Ninety One has announced a R5 billion deal with Sanlam, which will see the asset manager acquire all the issued shares in Sanlam Investment Management.

In return, the insurance group will own around 12% of Ninety One, which is listed on the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges

Sanlam will also appoint Ninety One as its primary active investment manager for single-managed local and global products.

Ninety One's assets under management (AUM) amount to £127.4 billion, as reported in its interim results for the six months to end-September 2024.

The transaction with Sanlam will boost the company's AUM by around £17 billion. 

Sanlam says the deal supports its strategy to strengthen its position in South Africa. 

Stephen Grootes asks CEO Hendrik du Toit about the benefits for Ninety One.

Du Toit says it's a very important South African transaction for them in the sense that they get access to Sanlam's retail distribution as their primary asset manager.

"They give us roughly R400 billion to manage, through the sale of their investment management business, and of course about 20% of that is international..."

"We expect significantly more flows on the international side coming from South Africa with the realignments of portfolios and the more open exchange control environment."

Hendrik du Toit, CEO - Ninety One

Du Toit also highlights the fact that Sanlam have committed to be an anchor investor in Ninety One's international credit strategies which will accelerate the growth of those strategies, primarily sold into international markets.

"So it's a two-way deal and... we took the relationship to the next level when they came to us and mentioned that they wanted to focus on solutions for clients and not on active investment management."

Hendrik du Toit, CEO - Ninety One

To hear more from the Ninety One CEO, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article