COMPANY COMMENT: India exit lifts Omem’s Africa expansion plan
Omem also selling 50% stake in Chinese venture Old Mutual-Guodian, in line with its notice that it will sell all units outside Africa
The pullback will see Omem, one of the four core units of the Old Mutual group, consolidate its African presence, going head to head with Liberty and, to a lesser extent, Alexander Forbes. Liberty operates in 24 African markets, offering life insurance, asset management, short-term insurance and property and health insurance products. Omem has a presence in at least 11 of those markets, offering similar products, as well as asset management and banking services. Alexander Forbes, under new CE Andrew Darfoor, sold its UK actuarial business Lane Clark & Peacock to focus on Africa, with a presence in five countries outside SA. Other than its core retirement-administration business, Forbes offers investment, life insurance and short-term insurance products. Omem’s African businesses brought in R12.3bn in its latest reported period, which dwarfs Liberty’s R4.1bn and Forbes’s R1.8bn, but it cannot afford to be complacent following Liberty’s shakeup to improve performance, including dispat...
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