Merchant Securities delists after Sanlam acquisition

Financial services group Merchant Securities is set to have its listing on the alternative investment market (AIM) cancelled after South African insurer Sanlam acquired 94% of the company in December last year.

Merchant Securities, which includes an advisory and discretionary management arm, will cease trading as a public company on 14 February 2012 as a result of accepting the offer from Sanlam, which is headed up in the UK by chief executive Lukas van der Walt (pictured), to acquire to 28,971,985 shares accounting for 94.4% of the company towards the end of 2011.

Also as a result of the takeover Merchant’s executive director John East, non-executive chairman John Green, and non-executive director Charles Price have stepped down from the board of the company.