JSE-listed financial services firm Clientèle and financial services firm 1Life have agreed to merge, with the enlarged entity to hold a combined 1.5-million active policies and an estimated combined embedded value of R7.8-billion.

“The integration of 1Life with Clientèle will enhance the operational efficiencies of both entities, improving cost-effectiveness and scaling up our client service capabilities, as well as our respective product offerings,” Clientèle Group MD Basil Reekie said on November 3.

“The merger is set to expand market share for both companies, allowing them to leverage their distinct customer bases and harness numerous cross-selling opportunities. Under the merger agreement, both the 1Life and Clientèle brands will continue to operate much as they have until now.

“We are bringing together decades of industry expertise, trusted services, innovation and specialised offerings. This enables us to offer a more comprehensive range of value-adding, life-enhancing insurance and investment solutions to existing and new customers of both organisations,” he said.

Both companies have strong complementary broker, digital and direct distribution channels with diverse product differentiation that can be used to enhance target market opportunities, resulting in synergies and growth opportunities, said 1Life CEO Laurence Hillman.

“This synergy provides a foundation for the development and delivery of more innovative insurance products and services,” he said.

The merged entity will deliver notable benefits for both organisations and their current and future clients, said Reekie.

“The opportunities coming from the increased scale of the new organisation are self-evident, and we look forward to acquiring more clients, providing more value to existing clients and offering all employees more opportunities, while maintaining focus on our core pillars of treating clients and employees well as we execute on the merger,” he explained.

Further, Clientèle and 1Life have collaborated previously, including five years of working together on the 1Life rewards programme. This relationship influenced the decision to merge, as it revealed many operational synergies between the two companies as well as a good cultural fit.

“The merger will enable the two organisations to collaborate more closely, and not only expand their client bases and offerings, but also enhance the rewards available to their clients.

“Our close collaboration over the past few years has clearly demonstrated the compatibility of our organisational cultures and visions, and we are excited about the opportunity that this strategic merger presents for us to leverage these synergies for the benefit of our clients, employees and shareholders,” he said.