Alexander Forbes has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the shareholders of EBS International (EBS) to acquire 100% of the issued share capital in EBS subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.

The EBS employee benefits capability is geared to enable retirement funds to perform self- administration functions, which will unlock previously inaccessible opportunities for Alexander Forbes to efficiently serve the self-administration needs of very large retirement funds based in South Africa and select countries in Africa.

The acquisition will accelerate growth for Alexander Forbes and expand its service offering into adjacent segments of the South African and African retirement funding markets resulting in it being uniquely positioned to serve the breadth of retirement fund administration needs.

The combined entity will be better positioned to scale technological development, member engagement and regulatory implementation to deliver efficiencies, innovation and enhanced customer experiences across its expanded base of clients.

The EBS business will be run independently of Alexander Forbes but will benefit from the support structures and intellectual capability available within the Group to sustainably serve the needs of its clients now and into the future.

Employees are assured of their job security and the management of EBS will continue to perform their duties given their understanding of the business, its people and clients.

Dawie de Villiers, CEO of Alexander Forbes commented: ‘The acquisition of EBS will diversify and enhance the administration capabilities of Alexander Forbes significantly, providing us with an offering to self-administered retirement funds and the ability to extract more synergies across our administration platforms.’

Tim Rutherford, Chief Executive Officer of EBS, said: ‘The acquisition of EBS by Alexander Forbes will serve to enrich and broaden the market to which EBS has access but also the depth and scope of services and support EBS can offer. These synergies will benefit existing clients of EBS and Alexander Forbes and potentially open the market to new customers who seek a more comprehensive solution.’
ENDS///

INFORMATION ON ALEXANDER FORBES
Alexander Forbes is a financial services group headquartered in South Africa that impacts people’s lives by delivering insight and advice to individuals, employers and retirement funds. Alexander Forbes is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.