iag rejects qbe take over, page-80

iag board not putting up much of a fight, you think in the middle of a hostile bid after announcing a profit downgrade they would rev the market up with some action eg sack MD, cut costs etc, but they do nothing..trust me they have thrown in the towel...

Consider this QBE has 10,000 employee and is 50% bigger than IAG with 16,000 employees, QBE insurance margin 20% IAG 6%, QBE return on shareholders funds 24%, IAG 6-8%. IAG is fat and flabby and IAG shareholders really have no option but to accept. IAG board just wants to save face and not accept the first bid, trying to extract a few more cents so they and UBS (defense advisors) can say they added some value. Of course board members also have to negotiate exits for themselves...why put yourself out of a job for nothing...