Prudential Financial and LeapFrog Investments will acquire a strategic minority interest in Alexander Forbes Group.

The transaction backing one of Africa’s leading independent providers of financial advice, retirement, investment and wealth management services, builds on Prudential's partnership with LeapFrog to access high-growth financial services markets in Africa and deliver essential financial tools to emerging consumers.

Under the terms of the transaction, Prudential will, with LeapFrog acting as the investment manager, acquire a minority interest in Alexander Forbes from Mercer.

“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,” says LeapFrog COO and partner Gary Herbert.

“We are excited to broaden our presence in Africa and enter South Africa with an investment in Alexander Forbes through our partnership with LeapFrog,” adds Prudential Africa, India and Indonesia business development regional president Pavan Dhamija.

“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.”

Since 2016, Prudential and LeapFrog have invested in high-quality market leaders across the African continent, including Enterprise Group in Ghana and ICEA LION in Kenya.

“We are delighted to welcome long-term strategic shareholders of the calibre of Prudential and LeapFrog, who believe in our vision and support our strategy to achieve it. Their investment is an affirmation of the impact that we make on people’s lives, the quality of our team, and the potential that exists to unlock even greater value for our stakeholders,” says Alexander Forbes CEO Dawie de Villiers.

“The conviction of our long-term strategic shareholders, including investment holding company African Rainbow Capital, 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 to enhance our value proposition,” he adds.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. LeapFrog’s appointment as investment manager is subject to approval by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission.