
Australia's Insignia agrees to $2.2 billion CC Capital bid, below peak offer
The agreed A$4.8 per-share price falls short of the bid of A$5 apiece CC Capital had raised in March to match rival Bain Capital's competing offer. The discount highlights how market conditions and bidder fatigue ultimately tempered valuations for the 180-year-old wealth management firm.
Shares of the company rose as much as 16.03% to an early March high of A$4.560, outperforming the broader benchmark's (.AXJO), opens new tab 0.5% rise.
Foreign companies are competing to gain access to Australia's wealth management and retirement savings industry.
Insignia oversees about A$327 billion in assets, making it the third-largest player in the country's superannuation sector, and offers various other services, including financial planning and investment management.
Both Bain Capital and CC Capital Partners were granted an additional four weeks in April to finalise their bids after requesting extended exclusivity periods to complete debt funding and due diligence.
However, U.S.-based Bain Capital withdrew its A$3.34 billion offer in May, leaving CC Capital as the sole remaining suitor.
At the time, a third suitor, Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), opens new tab, did not raise its offer, and media reports have since said the New York-based private equity firm had walked away.
In recommending the scheme, Insignia Financial's directors considered the competitive process that saw the three bidders submit eight indicative offers before CC Capital's binding proposal emerged as the winning bid, the company said.
Insignia's board unanimously recommended shareholders to approve the scheme of arrangement "in the absence of a superior proposal". Subject to shareholder approval and other conditions, the company expects the scheme to be implemented in the first half of 2026.
The takeover comes as Insignia reported solid quarterly results, with funds under administration rising A$8.5 billion, or 2.6%, to A$330.3 billion as of June 30.
($1 = 1.5337 Australian dollars)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
Banco BPM profit beats forecasts with Anima boost after UniCredit walks away
MILAN, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Banco BPM ( opens new tab on Tuesday beat profit expectations helped by fees earned through newly acquired fund manager Anima Holding, and confirmed the full-year outlook after staving off a takeover by larger peer UniCredit ( opens new tab. Banco BPM became a takeover target for UniCredit in November, soon after acquiring a stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab - stoking speculation about an eventual tie-up with the state-backed rival. The UniCredit bid, which collapsed last month after running into government opposition, is one of a dozen takeover offers reshaping Italian finance. Asked about Banco BPM's future M&A moves, CEO Giuseppe Castagna said his bank owned 9% of Monte dei Paschi (MPS), which could "show the way" forward but, in any case, it had to see first how MPS' current bid for Mediobanca ( opens new tab turned out. After UniCredit swooped on BPM, MPS launched an offer to acquire merchant bank Mediobanca which ends on Sept. 8. "We'll see what happens to MPS after the Mediobanca deal," Castagna said. Earnings for the three months through June are the first set of figures to include Anima, which Banco BPM managed to buy as it strived to fend off UniCredit. Second-quarter net profit stood at 704 million euros ($815 million), up from 380 million a year earlier and above an LSEG consensus estimate of 646 million euros. Revenues met expectations at 1.55 billion euros with a 9.6% rise in fees which more than offset a 3.9% decline in net interest income amid lower interest rates. The bank, which has long attracted takeover interest due to its roots in Italy's wealthy north, confirmed its full year net profit would be well 1.95 billion euros. Banco BPM's main shareholder is Credit Agricole ( opens new tab, a long-standing commercial partner. The French bank, which invested in BPM in 2022 to help its defence against UniCredit, recently bought derivatives to raise its holding to 20.1% and book a portion of BPM's earnings into its own accounts. The core capital ratio stood at 13.3% at the end of June, hit by Anima's acquisition but above BPM's 13% target, partly thanks to risk-transfer securitisation deals.($1 = 0.8639 euros)


The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Ofwat chief David Black to step down with regulator set to be abolished
The chief executive of Ofwat is to step down as the embattled water regulator prepares to be abolished. David Black will leave the role at the end of August and an interim chief executive is being appointed in due course. The government last month announced the regulator would be abolished in a regulatory shake-up that comes as part of its response to public outrage over rising bills, sewage pollution and large bonusses for bosses. Ofwat may not be formally axed until at least 2027 because the process to overhaul the current system will likely be complex. Mr Black, who took over as Ofwat's boss in 2021, decided the time is right for him to pursue new opportunities, the regulator said. He said: "I have been privileged to be able to lead Ofwat, over the last four years, during which time we have achieved a huge amount together as a team for customers and the environment. "The 2024 price review backed an investment programme of £104bn, along with a further £50 billion investment in major new water resources, which will improve service, environmental outcomes and resilience in the years to come. "I wish the team every success as they continue their important work." Ofwat chair Iain Coucher said: "David has worked, tirelessly, to bring about transformational change in the water sector. "He has sought new regulatory powers and resources to hold companies to account, taken major enforcement action and provided funding and incentive packages that drive continual improvements for customers. "On behalf of the Board and everyone at Ofwat, I would like to thank David for his leadership and his service over the last 13 years and to wish him every success in the future." Ofwat will be abolished as part of an overhaul of the 'broken' regulatory system, environment secretary Steve Reed confirmed in July. He made the announcement in response to an independent review by Sir Jon Cunliffe, which was published last month. The review was commissioned by the government to answer public fury over pollution in rivers, lakes and seas, soaring bills, shareholder payouts and bosses' bonuses. Mr Reed said the move to create a single 'powerful' regulator, taking in the functions of four existing bodies with overlapping functions, would curb pollution and 'prevent the abuses of the past for customers'. The overhaul, he said, would ensure 'British families are never again hit by the shocking bill hikes we saw last year', and committed to cut water companies' sewage pollution in half within five years.


Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Proxy adviser tells Third Point Investors Ltd shareholders to vote against Malibu Life deal
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that shareholders in Third Point Investors Limited (TPOGu.L), opens new tab vote against a deal to acquire Malibu Life Reinsurance SPC, a report from the proxy adviser said on Tuesday. The proposed deal would "fundamentally change" the fund's investment case without offering minority shareholders an exit option at a fair price for their entire holdings, the report said. Third Point had no immediate comment on the recommendation. Third Point Investors Limited, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007, said last month that it will acquire Malibu Life Reinsurance SPC, a life annuity reinsurer which billionaire Daniel Loeb launched last year. Shareholders have to vote on the deal on August 14. Loeb has proposed transforming his Third Point Investors Limited to address a valuation discount it has to his New York-based hedge fund Third Point. Third Point Investors (TPIL) would also move from being based in Guernsey to the Cayman Islands, change its name to Malibu Life Holdings Ltd, according to the ISS report. These changes would constitute a "reverse takeover" under UK Listing Rules, ISS said. Like other UK-listed investment companies, TPIL is known as a feeder fund and was originally designed to give retail shareholders a taste of hedge funds that had long been off limits to all but the wealthiest financiers. A dissenting shareholder group said the acquisition should be put to an independent vote. "Without Third Point and Dan Loeb's affiliated shares and votes, it is the Group's considered view that the transaction would not pass," the dissenting shareholder group said in a statement. It includes UK investment firm Asset Value Investors Limited, Metage Capital and Evelyn Partners Investment Management, as well as Australian investment firm Staude Capital and California-based Almitas Capital. The dissenting shareholder group said on Friday that it had contacted a further 10% of shareholders that it said oppose the deal. Reuters was not able to verify the identity of these shareholders or their intention to vote. TPIL said last month that it had irrevocable undertakings from shareholders holding 45% of the company's voting rights to back the deal, including Third Point Management, with 25%.