Rand Merchant Bank Insurance Holdings

Rand Merchant Bank Insurance Holdings

Rand Merchant Investment Holdings, also referred to as RMI Holdings, is a listed financial services investment holding company that holds a diversified portfolio of premier insurance brands in South Africa, Australia, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The RMB Holdings restructure was announced on 10 December 2010. Its aim was to create separate focused insurance and banking entities. Prior to the restructure RMB Holdings portfolio comprised.

• FirstRand – 30% Shareholding.
• OUTsurance – 58.5% Shareholding – RMB Holdings held 45% of OUTsurance directly and an additional 45% through FirstRand bring the total control to 58.5%.
• MMI Holdings – 18% Shareholding.
• Discovery – 25% Shareholding.
• RMB-Structured Insurance – 76% Shareholding.

The restructure was aimed at separating of RMBH’s insurance and banking interests and was executed as follows:

• The transfer of the RMBH, Remgro and FirstRand’s insurance interests to its newly incorporated wholly owned subsidiary, RMI Holdings. These insurance assets were transferred in exchange of additional shares in RMI Holdings.
• The unbundling of RMBH’s shares in RMI Holdings to RMBH shareholders and the separate listing of RMI Holdings on the JSE by way of introduction. RMI Holdings would then become an insurance-focused investment entity.

The RMBH restructure was completed on 7 March 2011 and the shares of RMIH started trading at the JSE on the same day. This restructure was made possible due to the common shareholding in RMB Holding, Remgro and FirstRand. However, to date RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings share the same management team and resources under a management contract.

In January 2016, the firm changed its name to Rand Merchant Investment Holdings. This was in line with the firm’s strategy to invest in the broader financial services sector and beyond the insurance industry. In the same year, RMI Holdings announced that it would be selling its entire shareholding in RMB-SI to Santam.