Former Telkom CEO in new multimillion-rand deal
Afrifund Investments, an investment company founded and chaired by former Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko, is part of the private equity buyout of Bidvest Life, which was last disclosed to be a R130-million deal.
Business Times reports that the transaction is part of Afrifund’s broader strategy to establish a beachhead in financial services spanning banking, insurance, and asset management in South Africa.
According to the report, Maseko’s investment company is also finalising the acquisition of an unnamed asset management firm.
The acquisition of Bidvest Life Limited is being led by Lindicom Capital, a South African private equity firm, which will be the primary shareholder following completion of the transaction.
Afrifund Investments forms part of a broader BEE consortium of co-investors participating in the transaction alongside Lindicom.
Bidvest said in its latest integrated annual report that it began disposing of its entire shareholding in Bidvest Life towards the end of June 2023.
Bidvest Life is a licensed life assurance company and registered financial service provider specialising in income protection, disability, critical illness and life cover.
The company disclosed in its last annual financial results for the year ended 30 June 2025, published on 1 September, that it had received a binding offer of R130 million for 100% of Bidvest Life.
It has not repeated the figure in its most recent financial reports, including its integrated annual report, published on 28 October 2025.
Instead, it said, “The group has received binding offers from existing life insurers for 100% of the share capital of and claims in Bidvest Life.”
However, in Bidvest’s half-year results published on 2 March 2026, it said it had received a binding offer from a private equity-led financial services consortium for 100% of the share capital of Bidvest Life.
That consortium has now been revealed to be the one led by Lindicom Capital. Co-founder Douglas Comrie said the transaction has received approval from the Competition Commission.
“It is currently pending the required approval of the Prudential Authority,” Comrie said.
The sale of Bidvest Life is part of the group’s decision to exit its financial services businesses, which included FinGlobal Migration and Bidvest Bank.
It has already sold FinGlobal, a company focused on South African emigrants, to Momentum for R201 million. It also disposed of Bidvest Asset Management for R2 million.
The sale of Bidvest Bank to Nigeria’s Access Bank collapsed earlier this year when it failed to pass regulatory muster.
Bidvest exits financial services
Bidvest first revealed on 3 July 2024 that it was undergoing a strategic restructuring and streamlining its operations by divesting its Financial Services division.
That meant selling its financial services assets to concentrate on its core competencies in hygiene, facilities management, and plumbing product distribution.
By narrowing the business’s focus while expanding its future growth opportunities, Bidvest Group CEO Mpumi Madisa said they were setting the business up for continued, but manageable, growth.
“The opportunity to facilitate a step-change in value-creation for all stakeholders does not arise often,” Madisa stated.
“The strategic restructure of Bidvest Financial Services allows us to set these businesses up for their next phase of sustainable expansion whilst recycling capital to position the group for continued growth.”
As part of the strategic shift, the company put Bidvest Bank up for sale and, in December 2024, Access Bank agreed to acquire 100% of its share capital for R2.8 billion.
Bidvest Bank is a full-service bank that offers foreign exchange, fleet, business and personal financial products. The deal to sell it to Access Bank collapsed in February 2026.
“Unfortunately, the Bidvest Bank disposal transaction was terminated as a result of Access Bank Plc not securing the required approvals prior to the long stop date,” the group said.
“The sale process has been relaunched, and we remain confident in our ability to successfully execute this disposal and will accelerate transaction timeframes.”
Maseko acquired stake in DStv licence-holder
In addition to Afrifund seeking a toehold in South Africa’s financial services sector, it has also taken a stake in DStv’s domestic licensing entity.
Maseko, the founder and executive chairman of Afrifund, was Telkom’s Group CEO from April 2013 until he handed the reins to Serame Taukobong.
Although he was scheduled to step down on 30 June 2022, Maseko left Telkom six months early, with his last day on 31 December 2021.
Before joining Telkom, Maseko served as group chief operating officer and managing director at Vodacom. Prior to Vodacom, he held various roles at BP starting in 1997.
Last year, he took a stake in MultiChoice (Pty) Ltd, also known as LicenceCo, as part of a transaction to satisfy regulatory requirements regarding ownership and foreign control of broadcasting licences.
Afrifund was one of several BEE partners approached to ensure that French conglomerate Groupe Canal+ has no more than 20% of the voting rights in the entity holding MultiChoice’s South African licence.
This is a requirement for broadcasting licensees under the Electronic Communications Act. Additionally, licensees must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups (HDGs).
Afrifund Consortium, Identity Partners Itai Consortium, an employee stock ownership plan, and MultiChoice’s BEE share scheme ensured that the entity’s 30% HDG ownership requirements were met.
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