Kepa And NZFSG Merger Confirmed

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The merger of Kepa and NZFSG was confirmed on 30 October as planned, says Brendon Neal, Kepa’s CEO.

The companies announced their decision to merge on 1 October saying they were seeking regulatory approval.

“The New Zealand Commerce Commission did not give formal approval for the acquisition of Kepa. Rather, NZFSG informally notified the Commission of the transaction, and the Commission indicated that they did not intend to consider the acquisition further at this time,” said Brendon Smith, CEO, NZFSG, in a statement.

Neal said: “All of our Kepa staff have accepted positions with NZFSG and started with the new group on 2 November. I will continue to run Kepa as CEO while we merge the two companies over the coming months with additional responsibility now as Head of Strategy for the wider NZFSG Group.

Brendon Neal, CEO, Kepa Group,
Brendon Neal, CEO, Kepa, says the merger with NZFSG is underway.

Lee Rudolph, who established and grew Kepa General from scratch has successfully acquired the rights to the Kepa General client base and will continue to run that business.”

The merger aggregates Kepa’s network of 400 advisers with the 1,200 plus network of NZFSG and its affiliate Loan Market.

Kepa’s general insurance arm will remain with Kepa’s holding company Kepa Financial Services (KFS). It is anticipated that these assets will be divested in the coming months and KFS will eventually be wound down.

Neal says NZFSG, Loan Market and Kepa are New Zealand’s largest life insurance and mortgage adviser dealer groups.

See our story: Kepa AND NZFSG Merger Announced.