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South Africa’s King Price buys Stangen, targets life insurance

King Price Stangen
King Price bought Stangen from African Phoenix Investments for R140 mn

South African Insurer King Price has entered the life insurance market with the acquisition of Stangen Life Insurance, according to media reports.

Recently, regulators in South Africa gave their approval for King Price to acquire Stangen Life Insurance from African Investment Investments for about R140 million.

King Price, which currently sells short-term insurance offering motor, household, business, and other specialist insurance products, plans to launch its life insurance brand in the next 12 months.

Chief executive at King Price, Gideon Galloway told the media, “King Price and Stangen is a partnership that just makes sense. We’re teaming up to reinvent life insurance for South Africans. We’d always planned to enter the life insurance market, which is three times the size of the short-term insurance market in South Africa, and buying an existing, niche life insurance business makes sense on so many levels.”

King Price launched its bid for the Stangen business in June 2019; however, the acquisition was subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition will give King Price access to Stangen’s 55 000 policyholders across its life cover, group schemes insurance, and funeral cover businesses.

Galloway added, “Our existing distribution channels are entrenched and we’ll rely on them to increase the scale of the Stangen book. We see huge potential for significant growth in the market. Consumers deserve a lesser burden, more reassurance, more flexibility, and more opportunities to live a little.”

Established in 2012, King Price sells more than 12,000 policies a month, with an annual premium of R2.3 billion. The company has around 760 employees in South Africa.

With the acquisition of Stangen, King Price will now compete with heavyweights like Old Mutual, Sanlam, Metropolitan and Hollard in the life insurance market.

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