Australia’s Insignia Financial has received an updated offer from CC Capital Partners to acquire the wealth management firm for AUD3.07bn ($1.91bn), according to a report by Reuters.
The bidding competition for the 178-year-old company intensified in mid-January when Bain Capital matched CC Capital’s initial offer of AUD2.87bn.
CC Capital’s revised offer includes AUD4.60 in cash per share for Insignia shareholders under a scheme of arrangement, surpassing Bain’s bid of AUD4.30 per share.
Insignia, which provides superannuation, financial advice, and asset management services, reported AUD319.6bn in funds under management and administration as of September.
Shares of the Australian company surged by as much as 4.9% to AUD4.37, the highest in over three years, although still below CC Capital’s enhanced offer price.
If the acquisition goes through, it would mark CC Capital’s first significant investment in Australia, granting the firm access to the nation’s AUD$4.1tn superannuation system, one of the largest private pension markets in the world.
CC Capital’s revised offer is a 10.6% premium over Insignia’s most recent closing price and a 7% premium over both its initial offer and Bain’s updated proposal.
“The response from CC Capital was expected as they are going very hard at the race to acquire Insignia Financial given their first offer was above that of Bain’s first offer … we expect Bain Capital will respond in some way or another, possibly with another match of CC’s new offer,” said Grady Wulff, Market Analyst at online trading platform Bell Direct.
“Given Australia’s ageing population and growing demand for super and wealth services, there is no surprise that Insignia is the hottest M&A deal on the market right now.”
