22seven acquired by Old Mutual

Hi Alistair

I’m writing to tell you that 22seven has been bought by Old Mutual. The deal will be announced to the public today.

I’m guessing that your reaction is one of either “awesome”, “who cares?” or “wtf?” Well, I can honestly say that my feeling about it is the first of those, and not for reasons some cynics may think.

There are two reasons my team and I are so excited, and they both pertain to the big, bold ambitions we’ve always had for 22seven. One is that they don’t change at all. Old Mutual shares them and is completely behind them. We would never have sold if they weren’t. Reason number two is that the deal gives us fuel for our rocket. With Old Mutual’s support, we can go much further, much faster. And that’s a huge deal.

If you’re in the “who cares” camp, I’m comfortable with that. It’s business as usual and nothing changes about our service, other than that we’ll be taking bigger leaps forward, sooner.

If you have reservations about the deal, I want to reassure you that, although we’ve sold, we haven’t sold out. We didn’t compromise to make it happen. We will still be objective. We will not suddenly start spamming you or trying to sell you anything. We still want to help you do more with your money, whoever that money may be with.

22seven is not just a business for us. We’ve been building it for almost four years. It is very personal, and very much a child to us: we want it to grow, to mature, to be all it can be, and, hopefully, to do some good. This deal will help make that all happen.

If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me personally. If not, we hope you enjoy the ride with us for a very long time.

Regards Christo Davel Founder and CEO