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While wealth manager Insignia Financials (ASX:IFL) is still privately fielding takeover approaches from U.S. private equity heavyweights, one supposed bid holds no water – the company hasn’t heard from Brookfield.
Insignia waded into headlines on Friday to clear the bill after The Australian reported Brookfield had been “actively weighing” a bid for the wealth group.
The News Corp report claimed “[Brookfield] is working on a tilt at Insignia” though the write-up did also make it clear no formal offer had been tabled.
Formal or not, Insignia didn’t like it – and came out swinging with a release.
“Insignia Financial confirms that it has not received any proposal from Brookfield,” the company said in a market announcement on Friday. The wealth manager also said it had not breached disclosure rules. (That last addition may have been included after the ASX warned it would crack down harder there.)
The denial leaves a clear playing field for the Insignia takeover: Bain Capital and CC Capital Partners remain the two top dogs in the $2.9 billion buyout battle.
CC Capital holds the most recent lead from earlier this week when the New York-headquartered private equity group offered shareholders $4.30 per share in cash for control of Insignia – a bid that set the $2.9B pricetag.
Bain had opened the bidding in December; its $4-a-share approach had been turned down due to how “undervalued” the offer was against IFL’s market price.
Insignia is even worth more than that takeover offer now, selling at $4.09 a share.
HotCopper can see CC Capital going quite hard on the buyout bid even if the price rises; it has had its eyes fixed on wealth manager MLC, now a subsidiary of Insignia, for quite some time. In 2021 it actually lost out to Insignia in a cash-splashed bidding war that saw National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) rake in $1.4 billion.
The CC Capital bid lobbed on January 6 could easily be the final say though; Insignia’s board and advisers have been pondering the approach most of this week.
“There is no certainty the indicative proposal will result in a binding offer or that any transaction will eventuate,” the company said – but it’s been combing the numbers since to “assess whether it is in the best interest of shareholders.”
Any deal from any suitor would require Foreign Investment Review Board approval.
IFL last traded at $4.09 today, up 1.36% after the Brookfield reports.
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