SANLAM LIMITED - SANLAM ACQUISITION IN THE UK FURTHER STRENGTHENS INTERNATIONAL

SANLAM LIMITED - SANLAM ACQUISITION IN THE UK FURTHER STRENGTHENS INTERNATIONAL 
CAPACITY                                                                        
SANLAM LIMITED                                                                  
(Registration number 1959/001562/06)                                            
Share code: SLM                                                                 
ISIN: ZAE 000028262                                                             
SANLAM ACQUISITION IN THE UK FURTHER STRENGTHENS INTERNATIONAL CAPACITY         
Sanlam Limited today announced the acquisition of Merchant Investors Assurance  
Company Ltd (Merchant Investors), a specialist provider of individual pensions  
and life products in the UK and owned by the Allianz Group.  Subject to         
regulatory approval, Merchant Investors will become a subsidiary of the Sanlam  
Group"s offshore holding company, Sanlam Netherlands Holding bv.                
Sanlam"s total investment will be funded quite comfortably from its existing    
offshore cash resources.                                                        
Merchant Investors has funds under management (FUM) of approximately GBP1,100m, 
with 95% of policyholder liabilities unit-linked, the remainder being           
predominantly pension annuity business. Merchant Investors also invested        
considerable resources to develop a highly efficient scaleable administration   
system.                                                                         
Sanlam announced a restructuring of its international business in August 2003   
and indicated that it would follow a decentralised approach to                  
internationalisation with each of the clusters in the Group developing and      
expanding its own international activities.                                     
Management responsibility for the acquired business will fall under Sanlam Life.
Dr Johan van Zyl, Group CEO of Sanlam says that the new international initiative
is in line with the Groups" strategy of leveraging existing operational         
strengths to provide cost effective and relevant product and service offerings  
to its clients.                                                                 
"This acquisition also opens up several other opportunities for Sanlam in the UK
and Merchant Investors will be a catalyst in building the different UK          
businesses into a more coherent offering and platform.                          
"In addition, the potential for cross selling and client sharing also exists    
between Merchant Investors" target market and client base, the Sanlam Group"s   
high net worth businesses and Santam"s offshore businesses," he said            
Lize Lambrechts, CEO of Sanlam Life, said: "One of Sanlam Life"s core strengths 
is its competency in the field of policy administration. The acquisition        
represents a key step for Sanlam to advance its ambitions to establish new      
business initiatives that can leverage off both existing local and acquired     
international infrastructure and personnel.  We will also explore ways of using 
Sanlam Life"s local product development skills to customise certain niche       
product offerings that could be distributed through Merchant Investors" UK      
insurance licence and utilise Sanlam"s existing international multi manager     
proposition as appropriate."                                                    
The acquisition is subject to approval by the regulatory authorities. Completion
is expected in December 2003.                                                   
7 October 2003                                                                  
Date: 07/10/2003 11:14:36 AM Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
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