Sanlam to snap up MultiChoice’s insurance business

NMS Insurance Services (NMSIS) is licensed to underwrite non-life and life insurance products, and focuses on device, installation, funeral, subscription waiver and debt waiver insurance products.

The deal, if approved, will include a long-term commercial arrangement to expand insurance and related financial service offerings into MultiChoice’s extensive African subscriber base. This will give Sanlam and its affiliates the opportunity to cross-sell financial services products to MultiChoice’s extensive and engaged subscriber base of 21 million households across 50 countries in Africa. Opportunities outside of South Africa will be facilitated through SanlamAllianz. The move will catapult Sanlam closer to its stated goal of reaching 50 million clients across the continent by next year.

Sanlam group CEO Paul Hanratty said the deal (if approved) would offer Sanlam the opportunity to leverage the companies’ respective market footprints and technological capabilities that will support growth and market penetration, as well as provide opportunities to realise synergies for the benefit of all stakeholders.

For MultiChoice, the transaction represents an opportunity to expand services such as insurance to its subscribers across Africa, leveraging Sanlam’s expertise and technology.

The deal, which is still subject to regulatory and competition approvals, has been announced on the heels of a R35-billion or R125-a-share cash offer by French Canal+ for Multichoice. The Canal+ offer opened earlier this month and will close on 25 April 2025. Sharedata shows that although the Multichoice share price dropped 1.94% over the past three months to close at R104.92 last Friday, it has climbed 11.86% over the past year. It was at its highest over the past year in early March 2023, when it stood at R144.49.

The Sanlam offer for NMSIS includes a potential performance-based cash earn-out of up to R1.5-billion that is contingent upon the amount of gross written premium (GWP) generated by NMSIS for the financial year ending December 2026.

Robust growth

• A year-on-year increase of 36% in GWP to R970-million;


• An increase of 51% in profit after tax to R296-million; and


• Net asset value of R277-million.