Bidvest unit agrees to buy Cannon Asset Managers

Financial services division makes third deal in six months.

Bidvest Group’s financial services unit agreed to buy South Africa’s Cannon Asset Managers to add to banking and insurance operations, its third acquisition in six months.

The conglomerate will take over the Johannesburg-based money manager from Citadel Wealth Management, Bidvest said in an emailed statement on Thursday. Cannon was founded in 1998 by Chief Executive Officer Adrian Saville and has five funds listed on its website. Bidvest didn’t say how much it’s paying for the company.

“Our acquisition of Cannon is a key building block in the expansion of our financial services business,” Japie van Niekerk, managing director of Bidvest Financial Services and Bidvest Bank, said in the statement. “We see a good strategic fit in combining our businesses.”

The deal follows Bidvest’s purchases of FinGlobal, a provider of financial services to South Africans living outside the country, and First Data’s South African merchant services operation. The company’s parent is starting a new phase of growth after spinning off its food-services unit Bid Corp last year, its largest division. Bidvest also operates car rental, office products and freight, among other services.

The four Cannon funds with at least four years history all underperformed their benchmarks last year, according to the money manager’s website.

Bidvest shares declined 1% to R206.51 in early trade in Johannesburg, valuing the company at R70 billion. Source: Money Web