South African independent black-owned financial services group, Vunani acquired 45 percent controlling stakes in local investment management firm, Alliance Capital at an undisclosed fee.
Briefing reporters in Blantyre, Vunani Group Chief Executive Officer, Ethan Dube, said their coming onto the Malawian market is part of spreading the group’s footprint in Southern Africa.
Over the past years, Vunani has successfully built a strong financial services platform with a diverse financial-service product offered in South Africa.
Dube said Vunani is a strong player on the South African market in the areas of property, investment banking, asset management and stock broking.
“We are very excited to enter the Malawi market after lengthy talks with Alliance Capital. We are confident this partnership will help bring new products onto the market,” Dube said.
He said Vunani has no intentions, in the short and medium term to change the name of Alliance Capital to Vunani.
Dube said Vunani understands the value of the Alliance Capital brand which the local board and management have taken years to build.
“Alliance Capital is a strong trusted brand,” said Dube.
Alliance Capital Board Chairman, Peter Barrat, said the coming in of Vunani would help reinforce the operations of the local business.
Vunani Limited began as a wholly owned subsidiary of African Harvest Limited in 1997. By 2001, the company had established offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town with four divisions focused on private equity, hedge fund management, structured finance and corporate finance.
In early 2002, the senior executives of Vunani Limited began a buyout process covering all of African Harvest’s operating businesses including African Harvest Fund Managers. This buyout was supported by the Metallon Group, who retained ownership of African Harvest Fund Managers when the buyout was completed in 2004.
In July 2005 ABSA acquired a 20 percent interest in the company through a share subscription. Vunani Limited listed on the JSE Ltd’s AltX Exchange in late November 2007, raising R175 million.
The capital raised through these transactions provided the company with the means to expand its operations and build a diversified financial services platform.
The focus of the Group is now to expand its customer base using the three business units that make up this platform, namely; asset management, investment banking and property.
