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Australian Non Bank Lenders To Consolidate Further
The capitulation of GE Money, and the subsequent divestment of its Wizard Home Loans unit for just A$ 26 million, after having paid A$ 500 million for the business only 4 years ago suggests the outlook for non bank lenders and mortgage brokers is positively horrendous. The acquisition of Wizard by Aussie Home Loans and CBA bears the beginnings of a wave of consolidation for the industry in general.
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IAG selling UK Units
Australia’s largest general insurer Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is selling its UK mass market distribution business for A$ 162 million. IAG says it will sell its UK insurance branch network to the Swinton Group for £50 million and will divest the Hastings and Advantage businesses through a management buy-out for £23.5 million.
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QBE Raises A$ 2 billion. Will it bid for AIG?
QBE Insurance, Australia’s largest insurer announced that it would be raising capital into order to repay debt and fund foreign expansion through acquisitions. The exercise should raise A$ 2 billion and would take place in the form of a fully underwritten institutional share placement.
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Suncorp Raises Full Year Earnings Guidance
Suncorp-Metway who only as recently as 6 weeks ago was looking at selling of key business units at distressed prices at the height of the credit crisis, raised it full year bank profit forecast. Not surprisingly the insurance and banking groups stock gained as much as 8 per cent at the start of trade, immediately after the announcement, and then paired its gains, ultimately closing down a little over 5 per cent for the day compared to a broader index which was largely unchanged
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IAG Not Apologetic For Rebuffing QBE Low Ball Bid
The Chairman of Insurance Australia Group (IAG), James Strong strongly defended the decision to reject a proposed acquisition by rival and dominant Australian insurer QBE earlier this year. Mr. Strong said at the AGM that the valuation of IAG was inadequate and the A$9 billion bid undervalued the company.
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NIB Rejects Bid, Shareholders Livid
Australian Health Insurer, NIB yesterday rejected an unsolicited bid for its business which was double its market value saying that it was inadequate. The bidder who remains a mystery due to a confidentiality agreement is said to have bid between A$1.15 to A$1.20 a share, valuing the health insurance company at around A$621 Million, almost twice the value of the company at the close of trading on Friday.
The unsolicited bid had the effect of putting a floor under the stock price of NIB and its shares surged some 14%. NIB stock still trades as a discount to its listing price, CEO Mark Fitzgibbon said that the bid was rejected because it undervalued the company. “The board has a view of the intrinsic value of the business based upon our own modeling, and based upon recent comparable transactions like the Manchester Unity sale and the Australian Health Management sale,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
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