Johannesburg - Insurers Old Mutual [JSE:OML] and Sanlam
[JSE:SLM] are in talks to set up a joint venture to buy JPMorgan’s South African
fund administation unit, a senior Sanlam executive said on Tuesday.
The deal would give Sanlam and London-based Old Mutual
control of the back-office unit that administers investments for fund managers,
said Kobus Moller, Sanlam's financial director.
“Sanlam and Old Mutual are the two biggest clients of that
unit, so I think it makes sense,” Moller said.
“The terms still have to be decided on, so it’s still early
in the process.”
Bloomberg reported the sale of the unit on Monday, citing
another Sanlam executive, Johan van der Merwe.
No one was immediately available for comment at JP Morgan's
offices in South Africa.