South Africa’s Sanlam Takes over Morocco’s SAHAM Insurance Business in Africa for $1.05 bln

ape-Town based insurer Sanlam said it will fully acquire Morocco’s SAHAM group insurance business in Africa in a $1.05 billion deal.

The deal will give Sanlam access to SAHAM’s 26 markets across North Africa, the Middle East and West Africa and builds on its business that spans 11 African countries, India and Malaysia.

SAHAM Finances, a Casablanca-based arm of the SAHAM Group founded in 1995 by Moulay Hafid Elalamy (currently Minister of Industry), is the largest insurer on the continent outside of South Africa.

Sanlam, which owns 60 percent of property and casualty insurer Santam, is expanding to boost profit as its home economy struggles to emerge from a slowdown last year.

The deal will help SAHAM transform into a Pan-African investment fund, with the ambition of strengthening its position as a strategic continental economic player building on its thorough African expertise and its strong commitment to address large-scale projects.

This transformation into an investment fund will strengthen SAHAM Group’s footprint, with over 14.000 employees and several sectors in its portfolio after this transaction.

“SAHAM Group’s DNA lies within its ability to bring together leading international investors, such as the World Bank, Kingdom Zephyr, Abraaj, Allianz, Bertelsmann, Wendel and more recently the Sanlam Group. As part of its transformation into a Pan-African Investment Fund, SAHAM will now attract new partners, to break new ground, and invest in future-oriented businesses, development accelerators for our country and our continent,” Moulay Mhamed Elalamy, SAHAM Group’s spokesman said.