Kulula Partners with Liberty Life Insurance

June 8 - Tapping into the growing life insurance industry in South Africa, Kulula, the no frills airline, announced that it would be expanding its brand to include new products.

The group's financial side, which only deals with credit cards for now, will be joining forces with Liberty Life Insurance to bring consumers simple, transparent insurance products, including life insurance.

The Chief Executive Officer of Comair, Gideon Novick, said that "the combination of Kulula's strong brand and market agility and Liberty's experience and infrastructure is a good business fit and will bring a refreshing change to these financial services."

The new division, to be called Kulula Wealth, is currently without a head and Novick said that the group is seeking a young, dynamic Chief Executive Officer to pick up the reins and take it to higher places.

The Chief Executive of Strategic Ventures at Liberty, Deon de Klerk, also expressed his satisfaction with the new deal and said: "Liberty is exploring a number of opportunities to expand and grow business in terms of wealth offerings, geographic expansion and diverse markets."

"One avenue entails commercial partnerships that enable Liberty to extend offerings to customers and demographic groups who want to be serviced in a different way to traditional models," he said. "The joint venture supports our strategy and we are excited to have secured a partnership with Kulula."

Kulula is a highly profitable airline that caters to budget travelers. The new products should be released this year.