Prudential expands pan-African presence via deal with Marsh’s Mercer

Prudential Financial will acquire a minority interest in Pan-African financial advisory firm Alexander Forbes from Mercer, which is part of the Marsh McLennan Group, in a bid to expand its presence across the continent.

LeapFrog Investments will act as the investment manager for the transaction.

Alexander Forbes is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) with operations across 32 African countries and the Channel Islands through an offshore operation in Jersey.

Since 2016, Prudential Financial and LeapFrog Investments have invested in businesses across the African continent, including Enterprise Group in Ghana and ICEA LION in Kenya.

“We are excited to broaden our presence in Africa and enter South Africa with an investment in Alexander Forbes through our partnership with LeapFrog Investments,” said Pavan Dhamija, Prudential Financial’s regional president (Africa, India, Indonesia, and Business Development).

“This transaction underscores Prudential’s continued focus on Africa as a strategically important growth market and our vision to be a global leader in expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security. We identified Alexander Forbes as the market leader in South Africa best capable of advancing our vision and strategy.”

Gary Herbert, COO and partner at LeapFrog Investments, stated: “Through our strategic partnership with Prudential, we are backing the exceptional team at Alexander Forbes to continue to provide life-changing access to retirement and investment benefits in Southern Africa. This investment reinforces our commitment to deepening access to financial tools to generate prosperity for consumers in emerging markets.”

Dawie de Villiers, CEO of Alexander Forbes, said: “We are delighted to welcome long-term strategic shareholders of the caliber of Prudential Financial and LeapFrog who believe in our vision and support our strategy to achieve it.

“[...]The conviction of our long-term strategic shareholders, including ARC, can provide confidence to the market in the investment case for Alexander Forbes as we accelerate our transformation towards becoming the most impactful provider of financial advice to institutional clients and individual customers. It is an exciting development, and we look forward to leveraging the global insights available through Prudential Financial to enhance our value proposition.”