STEPHEN CRANSTON: Marinus Daling’s dramatic deal
Sanlam chairman Johan van Zyl believes that former chairman Marinus Daling sold the future by selling control of Metropolitan to a black consortium
The present MMI might never have been formed without two key events in the early 1990s. The most dramatic was the decision in 1993 by Sanlam chairman Marinus Daling to sell control of Metropolitan to a black consortium, New Africa Investments (Nail), headed by respected doctor and activist Nthato Motlana. Cyril Ramaphosa later became a Nail executive. It was the first empowerment deal, back in 1993, before we even knew the term. FW de Klerk was still in office. Today’s Sanlam chairman, Johan van Zyl, believes that Daling sold the future: Van Zyl had to rebuild the group’s presence in the mass market when he bought African Life in 2005. As for Momentum, it could have ended up being forgotten, along with brands such as Sun Life, Allianz, Prudential Life and Fedsure. But in 1992 it fortuitously hired Rand Merchant Bank for some corporate finance work. The RMB trio — GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar and Paul Harris — decided to buy the business instead.Results buried in small print Of cour...
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