Admiral to Unveil Board Changes Prior to IPO
Admiral, the motor insurer, will unveil two new non-executive directors ahead of its initial public offering, planned for next month.
The appointment of John Sussens, until recently managing director of Misys, the software and services company, and Martin Jackson, the former Friends Provident finance director, will be confirmed in the next few weeks.
The pair join a board that includes Henry Engelhardt, the Chicago-born chief executive and founder of Admiral, and Alastair Lyons, non-executive chairman.
Mr Jackson was number two at Friends Provident when the life assurer demutualised and listed on the stock market three years ago.
Admiral is set to offer one third of its shares in an IPO planned for the second half of September. While a price has yet to be agreed, analysts expect the group to raise about �225m ($404m), giving Admiral a market capitalisation of �675m.
If it goes ahead, the IPO will realise the investment of Barclays Private Equity, Admiral's biggest shareholder with a 33 per cent stake.
BPE funded a management buy-out of Admiral five year ago, although it is expected to retain shares.
An IPO will also deliver a paper profit of about �100m to Mr Engelhardt, who founded Admiral in 1993.
More than 90 per cent of Admiral's 1,500 employees, who own 39 per cent of the company, will also receive a windfall, expected to top �10,000 each.
With more than 800,000 customers, Admiral's stable includes the Admiral brand, which targets younger drivers in London and the south-east, Diamond, exclusively aimed at female drivers, and the internet based elephant.co.uk.
The group took advantage of buoyant premium rates in the fiercely competitive motor insurance market to increase profits by 31 per cent to �45.3m in the first six months of this year.
Meanwhile, Admiral's combined ratio, a key indicator for insurance companies, improved at the interim stage to 77.5 per cent, lower than many of its quoted competitors.
However, some analysts predict competition will eventually drive down premium rates.
Although essentially a motor insurer, Admiral styles itself as a financial services intermediary because it passes on much of the underwriting risk to third parties.
Merrill Lynch is acting as book runner on the IPO, while Citigroup is lead manager. Lexicon Partners is advising Admiral.
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