LV chairman resigns as members block Bain buyout Business

The chairman of LV = resigned after members of Britain’s oldest jointly-owned life insurer failed to back a controversial £ 530million takeover bid by a US private equity firm .

Alan Cook has said he will step down next year after failing to gain the support of 75% of the voting members for the takeover by Bain, which was founded by Republican Senator Mitt Romney.

LV = is now in talks with rival Royal London over a merger.

The company only got support for the deal from 69% of members who voted, meaning the deal fell through as LV = had to convince three-quarters of them to accept the offer.

Around 1.2 million policyholders were eligible to vote, but only 15% took part in the ballot, a sign of widespread apathy. Members were to receive £ 100 each if the deal was successful.

The result comes after a protracted campaign against the deal by a group of vociferous members and politicians, who did not want the mutual to fall into the hands of private equity.

LV = has come under fire in recent weeks for a perceived lack of transparency regarding the details of the sale. Members were to pay a £ 43million bill for the town’s businesses working on the sale, which the mutual insurer was accused of having buried on its website.

The company said it would now seriously consider a proposed deal with Royal London, in a marked change of tone after previously attacking openings from its mutual colleague.

LV = chief executive Mark Hartigan even accused rival Royal London of “throwing a grenade” into the talks as his board sought to seal the deal with Bain.

A spokesperson for LV = confirmed receiving an unsolicited preliminary merger proposal from Royal London on Wednesday, which is at an early stage and is under discussion.

He added: “The proposal, which is based on a substantially different structure from the offer received during the process in 2020, now includes the possibility of continued reciprocity and is conditional on exclusive discussions. “

A spokesperson for Royal London said: ‘Royal London can confirm that it has offered to enter into immediate and exclusive discussions with LV = to agree on a mutual merger which will provide LV = clients with the opportunity to have it protected. and invest their life savings through a mutual. . “