Suitors cooling on Insignia

Bridget Carter

The Australian Business Network

Speculation is mounting that at least one of Insignia Financial’s suitors is losing interest, after the company’s share price fell almost 6 per cent last week.

After three parties bid $4.60 per share for the listed wealth manager, or $3.1bn overall, subject to due diligence, the stock was initially trading around $4.66.

But the shares closed on Friday at $4.25.

CC Capital may be losing interest, sources say, and some wonder how serious Brookfield is in pursuing Insignia.

That leaves Bain Capital, which was the first player to reveal its interest in the company.

Some observers believe there is a strong chance that Bain will revise the price lower after taking a closer look at Insignia’s books.

Among Insignia’s shareholders is John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital, who holds about 14 per cent.

Bain Capital, which is being aided by former Insignia boss Renato Mota, is advised by Bank of America, CC Capital, Deutsche Bank and Brookfield, Jarden.

Insignia is advised by Citi and Gresham.

Insignia Financial’s boss, Scott Hartley, previously worked for the private equity firm CC Capital, which was once interested in buying the MLC business from NAB.

Insignia instead bought MLC for $1.4bn in 2020.