Wesfarmers to offload Lumley Life
Wesfarmers is privy to and concurs with UK-based Edward Lumley Holdings (ELH) attempts to sell offLumley Lifeprior to the Perth group’s planned purchase of the Lumley Group, as the life arm does not fit strategically into Wesfarmers’ corporate structure.
“We don’t own the [Edward Lumley] business, but we’re across what’s going on over there [in the UK]. It may or may not come off,” says Wesfarmers finance director Richard Goyder.
The life arm is a part of the Lumley business Wesfarmers, one of Australia’s largest public companies, would prefer to offload - be it before or after it acquires the group.
According to Goyder, “We’re more interested in the short-tail businesses [general insurance] rather than the longer-tail business [life], which involves taking on a greater level of liability.”
At the beginning of July Wesfarmers confirmed an earlier $320 million estimation price for the acquisition of all ELH shares plus the assumption by it of external debt of some $55 million.
However Wesfarmers at the time also revealed that “the price was subject to adjustment for the level of net assets at completion” - to account for the included or excluded life business.
Wesfarmers intends to operate the acquired Lumley businesses in parallel with its existing specialist rural and small business insurer, Wesfarmers Federation Insurance, in a separate new insurance business unit which will make a full contribution to the group’s results from the second quarter of the 2003/04 financial year.
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.
