bid 77 ask 78
mentre pwer British Insurance che è assicurazione e quindi non c'entra con Basilea 3 (comunque sarebbe step up)
bid 67 ask 70 HSBC
Ma poi Apollo l' Opa l'ha portata a Termine?
Brit Insurance to recommend CVC/Apollo offer
By Paul J Davies and Miles Johnson
Published: September 17 2010 18:48 | Last updated: September 17 2010 18:48
Brit Insurance, the sponsor of the England cricket team, is set to be bought by Apollo and CVC, the private equity groups, after the London-based insurer agreed in principle to recommend an offer to its shareholders of up to £11 per share.
UK-based CVC’s surprise inclusion in a partnership with Apollo of the US came after it became apparent that Apollo would struggle to finance a deal alone, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
The deal values Brit at up to £870m, a 53 per cent premium to where the company’s shares were trading before
Apollo’s initial approach was made public in June.
A takeover of Brit at a price equivalent to its expected book value at the end of the year is likely to boost valuations in the Lloyd’s of London insurance sector, where
most companies’ shares have been languishing at discounts to book value.
Investors have shied away from the companies as a continued slide in premium rates for most types of insurance and low expected investment returns have led to a downbeat view of the sector’s profitability.
Brit was one of the lowest rated of the sector’s stocks before Apollo’s initial approach. It was trading at 729.5p – a 30 per cent discount to book value – before Apollo’s first £10 per share offer was rejected by the company in June.
Apollo made three offers for Brit over the summer before the company
agreed to open its books for due diligence at £10.75.
CVC then also made a separate approach to the company, but was not brought in by the Brit board until it became apparent that Apollo would find it difficult to raise enough financing to complete a deal on its own.
The joint offer from Apollo and CVC announced on Friday is equivalent to £10.75 per share but also offers extra payments of up to 25p per share that will be granted on a straight sliding scale if the book value of Brit at the end of this year comes in above £10.75.
Brit shares closed at 987.5p.
A deal is dependent on completion of due diligence by the private equity consortium and on successful discussions with Brit’s regulators. The Brit board and the private equity consortium have set a deadline of October 15 for the remaining pre-conditions to be satisfied.
However, Brit added that there was no certainty that a firm offer would be made even if all the conditions were satisfied.
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