Alexander Forbes Group Holdings

Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Limited

Type	Public: JSE: AFH
Industry	Insurance, Financial services
Founded	1935
Headquarters	Sandton, South Africa
Key people	Sello Moloko - Chairman Andrew Darfoor - CEO Deon Viljoen - CFO
Products	Insurance and Asset & Fund Management
Revenue	ZAR: 4.39 Billion (2013/14)
Net income	ZAR: 379 Million (2013/14)
Total assets	ZAR: 266 Billion (2013/14)
Total equity	ZAR: 4.84 Billion (2013/14)[1]
Number of employees	3,912
Website	Homepage

Alexander Forbes Group Holdings, commonly referred to as Alexander Forbes is a specialized financial services group with its head office in Sandton, South Africa and business interests in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Established in 1935, the group was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in 2014. Alexander Forbes provides professional financial advice and financial products to individuals, businesses and institutions.^[2]

Overview

Alexander Forbes's main business focus is in employee benefits solutions for institutional (corporate) clients and the financial well being of its retail (individual) clients. The main services provided by the Group include retirement funds and asset consulting, actuarial consulting, investment and administration services, insurance, employee risk benefits and healthcare consulting.^[3]

History

Alexander Forbes operations date back to the consolidation of insurance agencies in South Africa in 1935, when the original business was founded as Price Forbes, later changing its name to Price Forbes Life and Pension Brokers in 1955.^[3]

In the 1970s, Price Forbes Life and Pension Brokers began diversifying its range of services to include fund administration, employee benefit consulting and actuarial services as well as retirement and estate planning. This was with the aim of meeting their client needs. Due to the diversification, the business name was changed to Price Forbes Employee Benefits Consultants.^[3]

Following a number of acquisitions by the group in the early 1980s, the name was changed to Alexander Forbes Financial Services. Since then, AFFS has grown to become a leading employee benefits consultancy in Africa, developing a number of pioneering solutions along the way.^[3]

The Group commenced international expansion in 1990 with the establishment of a small insurance brokerage operation in London and Jersey, which the Group later expanded through the acquisition of Nelson Hurst plc. The insurance brokerage business was also expanded into other African countries in order to continue servicing South African corporate clients which were expanding into these markets.

In 2002, the Group further expanded its international financial services business through the acquisition of a 60% interest in Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP), a leading actuarial consultancy firm in the UK. This was followed by further acquisitions of the businesses that formed Investment Solutions in the UK, Alexander Forbes Consultants and Actuaries (AFCA UK) and Media Insurance Services (Direct Marketing), and the expansion of LCP into Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Between 2012 and 2014, the Group disposed of a number of these interests, including the sale of AFCA UK, Investment Solutions UK, Media Insurance Services,LCP Switzerland and Alexander Forbes Trustee Services to focus on its core markets.^[3]

In 2006, Actis Capital LLP, Ethos Private Equity Ltd and Harbourvest Partners LLC made an offer of ZAR 7.4 Billion rand (USD 980Million) for the acquisition of the entire stock of Alexander Forbes other than 30% that was held by Staff and B-BBEE Partner Shanduka Group.^[4] The deal was said to be the largest and most complex leveraged buy-outs ever undertaken in Africa.^[5] This led to the delisting of Alexander Forbes from the JSE.

On 24 July 2014, Alexander Forbes announced an offer for shares to existing shareholders, institutional investors and to other selected investors. The Offer Shares were for sale at a price between ZAR 6.90 and ZAR 8.05 per share.^[6] The offer had Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley & Company and Rand Merchant Bank as its book runners.^[3] The IPO managed to raise ZAR 3.7 Billion (USD 345 million).^[7] This IPO marked Alexander Forbes' return to the JSE since its exit in 2006.

Operations

Alexander Forbes has operations in the following regions:

Africa

Europe

Middle East

Shareholding

As at 30 September 2014, the shareholding of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings was as follows:^[1]

External links

• Alexander Forbes Group Holdings
• Company Overview of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Limited
• Mercer Africa

See also

• Economy of South Africa

References