Latest news with #AndreaRossi
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Insurance group from Japan buys 15% slice of M&G
M&G has sold a 15 per cent stake to one of Japan's biggest life insurers in a partnership deal. Shares in the financial group rallied yesterday after it announced that Dai-ichi Life is now its largest shareholder in a long-term tie-up. The deal is expected to bring just below £4.5billion in business to M&G and about £1.5billion to Dai-ichi Life over the next five years. It is the latest example of a Japanese group teaming up with a UK firm after Tokyo-based Meiji Yasuda bought around 5 per cent of Legal & General in February. M&G shares hit their highest level since June 2021 following yesterday's announcement, but later gave up some of the gains. It still closed 5.5 per cent higher last night at 236.7p. The business has been regarded as a takeover target after speculation Australia's asset manager Macquarie was considering a £5billion bid in 2023. But M&G chief executive Andrea Rossi said that the partnership would bolster its position to compete as a standalone company. 'I can see us having a great independent future in front of us,' he said. Rossi described the partnership as a 'recognition of M&G's strengths and clear confidence in our leadership, strategy and long-term prospects'. 'It brings together two highly complementary international businesses with shared growth ambitions who aim to deliver excellent client service and sustainable shareholder returns.' The deal will allow the business to have 'even greater access to the Japanese and Asian market', Rossi added. M&G will become Dai-ichi Life's preferred asset management partner in Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, Dai-ichi Life will have the right to appoint a director to the board of M&G for as long as it holds at least a 15 per cent stake, M&G said. Russ Mould, at broker AJ Bell, said: 'The usually staid insurance sector burst into life as M&G's strategic partnership with Dai-ichi Life generated excitement. The deal is expected to generate significant business for the company over the next five years.' And Jefferies' analyst Philip Kett said: 'There appear to be no downsides to this partnership, and we expect it to be taken well by investors.' Earlier this month, Dai-ichi Life said it would raise its stake in UK-based Capula Investment Management to 15 per cent from just below 5 per cent. And in April it bought a 15.1 per cent stake in Australian investment manager Challenger for around £408m. Tetsuya Kikuta, president and chief executive of Dai-ichi Life, said: 'We see our partnership with M&G acting as a spearhead to develop our presence across Europe and the UK, accelerating our strategy to become a global top-tier insurance group.'
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Japan's Dai-Ichi Life to take 15% stake in British insurer M&G
PARIS/LONDON: Japanese insurer Dai-ichi Life will take a 15% stake in British financial group M&G and has agreed a long-term partnership, sending shares in M&G sharply higher and marking the latest overseas foray by a Japanese firm. The tie-up, in which Dai-ichi Life becomes M&G's biggest single shareholder, is expected to deliver at least $6 billion of new business for M&G and $2 billion of new business for Dai-ichi Life over the next five years, M&G said on Friday. M&G shares rose more than 8% in early trading, hitting their highest since June 2021. The stock was last up nearly 6% at 1050 GMT. M&G CEO Andrea Rossi told Reuters the agreement would help the firm accelerate growth in Asia via Dai-ichi Life's distribution network. He said the Japanese firm would also help fuel the growth of its European private markets business. M&G has been seen as a takeover target in the past, but Rossi said the tie-up would strengthen M&G's competitive position as a standalone firm. 'I can see us having a great independent future in front of us,' he said. The two companies will 'pursue opportunities to co-invest in new asset management capabilities' under the tie-up, and M&G will become Dai-ichi Life's preferred asset management partner in Europe. Asset management has seen a spate of consolidation and collaboration deals in recent years as firms try to bulk up in order to compete with U.S. giants like BlackRock and Vanguard. Japanese firms have also become more active in the insurance and asset management market outside of Japan, with British rival Legal & General announcing a tie-up with Meiji Yasuda in February, while DWS is in talks to form a joint venture with Nippon Life in India, Reuters reported this month. Under the deal, Dai-ichi Life will have the right to appoint a director to the board of M&G for as long as it holds at least a 15% shareholding, the British company said. In 2023 M&G was linked with a potential bid by Australia's Macquarie, which the British money manager at the time dismissed as speculative. Active asset managers have come under pressure from inflation and from investors turning to passive investment funds, which charge lower fees. M&G reported an unexpected rise in annual profit in March, helped by cost-cutting and growth in its asset management business. Dai-ichi Life earlier in May said it would raise its stake in UK-based Capula Investment Management to 15%, from just under 5%, and in April agreed to buy a 15.1% stake in Australian investment manager Challenger for around $550 million.
CNA
3 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Japan's Dai-Ichi Life to take 15% stake in British insurer M&G
M&G has formed a partnership with Dai-ichi Life Holdings in which the Japanese life insurer plans to buy a 15 per cent stake, sending shares in the British insurer and asset manager up sharply. The partnership, which makes Dai-ichi M&A's biggest single shareholder, is expected to deliver at least $6 billion of new business flows for M&G and $2 billion of new business flows for Dai-ichi Life over the next five years, M&G said on Friday. The two companies will "pursue opportunities to co-invest in new asset management capabilities", and M&G will become Dai-ichi Life's preferred asset management partner in Europe as part of the deal. Andrea Rossi, group CEO of M&G, said that the partnership would enable it to capitalise on "significant private market opportunities across Europe" and give it greater access to the Japanese and Asian market. M&G shares rose more than 8 per cent in early trading, hitting their highest since June 2021. Under the deal, Dai-ichi Life will have the right to appoint a director to the board of M&G for as long as it holds at least a 15 per cent shareholding, the British company said. M&G reported an unexpected rise in annual profit in March, helped by cost-cutting and growth in its asset management business. Dai-ichi Life earlier in May said it would raise its stake in UK-based Capula Investment Management to 15 per cent, from just under 5 per cent, and in April announced an agreement to buy a 15.1 per cent stake in Australian investment manager Challenger for around $550 million.
Telegraph
01-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
King breathes new life into the Royal Train
The King will breathe new life into the Royal Train by having its locomotives repainted with the King's cypher, it has emerged. The rebrand will raise hopes that the train can be saved from the scrapheap, more than two years after a review was launched into its future. The fate of the Royal Train has hung in the balance since the death of Elizabeth II, when Buckingham Palace announced it would assess how often it was used in the new reign before considering a potential timetable for decommissioning. Now, however, operator DB Cargo UK has confirmed that it is updating the train by replacing the late Queen's cypher with that of the King after the renewal of its Royal Warrant. The words 'Queen's Messenger' on the side, will also be replaced in honour of His Majesty. Andrea Rossi, the company's chief executive, said: 'There's always a great sense of occasion when the Royal Train is seen out on the mainline network, a sight we hope to see more frequently in the years to come, particularly with His Majesty's focus on promoting sustainability and the environment.' The rebrand coincides with the King's first use of the train in almost a year. Last week, he travelled to the Midlands on the train ahead of engagements at JCB in Rocester, Staffordshire, and at a brewery in Burton upon Trent. He is understood to have stayed on board overnight, having conducted various Duchy of Lancaster meetings in the area at the same time. The Royal Train had not previously been used since last May and was only used twice in 2023. It is phenomenally costly to run, accounting for some of the most expensive official royal journeys in any financial year. But palace aides insist that it provides overnight security, mitigating other such costs, and remains an 'effective and operationally efficient mode of transport'. It is now powered exclusively by hydro-treated vegetable oil, a biofuel derived from waste products, making it one of the sustainable modes of travel. The late Queen was particularly fond of the train. In 2017, she saved it from being scrapped after making it known that she believed it to be a cost-effective and convenient way for her family to travel. However, her heirs appear less enamoured. A review into the train's future was launched after the late Queen's death in 2022, the first indication that it had been earmarked for decommissioning. The next June, Buckingham Palace aides, perhaps reluctant to let go of such a remnant of royal history, said the study had been extended. A palace source said at the time that it was too early in His Majesty's reign to determine what the future usage of the train might be. Twelve months on, the picture was much the same, with aides stating that the previous financial year had been 'exceptional' owing to the Coronation and the King's cancer diagnosis, meaning that they had still not built up a picture of the train's normal usage. The King has used the train rarely since ascending to the throne – travelling on it from Ayr to Manchester in January 2023, when he stayed on board overnight, at a total cost of £31,571, and again during a solo two-day journey five months later, when he travelled to Pickering in North Yorkshire to mark the centenary of the Flying Scotsman. That trip cost £52,013. His son, the Prince of Wales, has favoured it even less, last climbing aboard in June 2021, when he and the Princess of Wales joined the late Queen and the then Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall to travel to Cornwall for the G7 summit. More recently, Prince William has travelled to several official engagements by public train, at a significantly reduced cost. The Royal Train's carriages are a mixture of bespoke conversions dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, with the King and Queen each enjoying a dedicated lounge, bedroom and bathroom. The Class 67 is capable of running on hydro-treated vegetable oil as an alternative to diesel, with DB Cargo UK successfully trialling it on freight trains last year. This could reduce its trains' CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent. The company has previously said it uses about 45 million litres of red diesel, which is subject to lower taxes than regular diesel used by motorists, every year.
