Lumley Life sold - finally

A South African based life insurance company is to buy the Australasian Lumley Life business for A$83.75 million.

Capital Alliance Holdings Australia (CAHA) confirmed the deal this week and says it will merge Lumley Life with its other Australian life business, CAHA subsidiary PrefSure Life, in a bid to “yield cost reductions, create increased profit and embed value”.

The deal allows Wesfarmers to complete its acquisition of Edward Lumley Holdings general insurance operations in Australia and New Zealand. Originally Wesfarmers said it was buying all Lumley Life but later said it would sell the life business as it was “more interested in the short-tail businesses rather than the longer-tail business, which involves taking on a greater level of liability”.

CAHA will fund the acquisition via a A$56 million rights issue, A$9 million sourced from its parent and the balance of around A$20 million from its internal cash resources.

This funding will raise Capital Alliance’s interest in CAHA from 39% to 67%.

Earlier story Lumley Life for sale - again