BEIGE acquires Universal Pensions

The BEIGE Group (TBG), a financial services provider, has acquired Universal Pensions Master Trust (UPMT), a licensed corporate trustee.

This brings to two the number of corporate trustees that have been acquired by TBG in the last 18 months and this move goes to confirm related press statements made last year by the BEIGE CEO, Mike Nyinaku. TBG’s first acquisition of a corporate trustee firm was in 2014 and the acquiree firm was Legacy Pension Trust (LPT).

These transactions are key steps in TBG’s strategy to affirm its status and capacity to serve as a provider of a broad range of financial services. UPMT has been in operation since 2012 specialising in Occupational Pensions Schemes (Tier 2). UPMT has presence in the Greater Accra, Western, Ashanti and Northern regions of Ghana.

As of the date of acquisition, UPMT had an individual clientele base in excess of 15,000. Legacy Pension Trust was also established in 2013 and has specialty in the management of both Occupational Pensions Schemes (Tier 2) and Voluntary Pensions Schemes (Tier 3). LPT has branches in Accra, Volta and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana.

Both companies operate Master Trust Pensions Schemes and offer Pensions Administration and Consultancy Services. Through these transactions, TBG has availed to UPMT & LPT, the benefit of its multiple distribution channels, business management expertise as well as the value of its brand. Why two acquisitions Commenting on the acquisitions, Mr. Nyinaku said the firms will be merged and rebranded.

“Customers can expect an aligned proposition that utilises the reputation and technical expertise of TBG to deliver an integrated service and improved value to clients,” he said. “Prior to these acquisitions, we did a careful survey of the industry and noted that those institutions had unique yet mutually exclusive capabilities, all of which we considered to be essential ingredients that would support the value proposition of BEIGE as a new entrant into the Pensions Market.

We also intended to hit the ground running as we already have the distribution network that would support an effective roll-out of a variety of Pensions Products. Thus, these acquisitions were comfortable business decisions to make.” He added that “TBG intends to become a major player in the distribution market place for Pensions in Ghana.

These transactions are thus a positive step for both UPMT and LPT and their clients, and we look forward to deriving maximum benefits from the up-coming merger,” he said. Immediate impact of the acquisition Without interrupting the smooth flow of the day to day business activities, the business models of the two institutions would be merged and their management structure revised to conform to the standards of TBG.

Mr Nyinaku ended by saying the new company that would be formed out of the merger of these two institutions would be out-doored in the second quarter of 2017.