Insignia acquisition war heats up with third bidder



A third private equity player has emerged in the bidding war to acquire Insignia Financial, rivalling Bain Capital and CC Capital.
Insignia Financial has announced that Brookfield Capital Partners (UK) Limited has become the third private equity firm to make a takeover bid, with the firm telling the ASX that Brookfield has matched the offers of both Bain Capital and CC Capital Partners.
The confidential, non-binding and indicative proposal from Brookfield would see it acquire all of the shares in Insignia Financial by way of a scheme of arrangement at a price of $4.60 cash per share or the potential alternative to acquire scrip in Brookfield’s unlisted bid vehicle.
“The indicative proposal represents a cash price per share the same as that proposed by CC Capital Partners LLC in its revised non-binding indicative proposal received on 17 January 2025 and Bain Capital in its second revised non-binding indicative proposal received on 22 January 2025,” Insignia said.
“The indicative proposal is expressed to be subject to a number of conditions including satisfactory completion of due diligence, execution of a binding scheme implementation agreement on customary terms, unanimous recommendation to vote in favour of the transaction from the Insignia Financial board of directors and commitment from all directors to vote in favour of the transaction (subject to customary carve-outs) and approval of Brookfield’s investment committee of final transaction terms.”
Insignia added that it would offer to provide to Brookfield a limited period of access to certain non-public information on a non-exclusive basis, in order to determine if Brookfield is able to formulate an improved proposal.
The firm had previously opened its books to both CC Capital and Bain following their improved offers last month.
“The provision of limited due diligence does not guarantee that the indicative proposal will result in a binding offer or one that is capable of being recommended by the board of Insignia Financial,” it said.
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, has assured the cost and time to enter the financial advice profession will soon be halved, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor pledges to reach 30,000 advisers.
The positive results of the latest financial adviser exam have helped the advice profession reach 15,600 yet again, according to Wealth Data analysis.
Financial advice firms have told Adviser Ratings they are planning to increase their compliance spend by almost a third, including on enhancements to their cyber security which ASIC has identified as an enforcement priority.
The digital advice platform is officially launching into the financial advice sector, offering up its services to practices as a means of engaging with the next generation of clients.