Savings, retirement, and protection group Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Limited (LV=) is today (February 03) holding a virtual event to discuss its proposed deal with private investment firm Bain Capital Credit LP.
Policyholders who, by January 15, signified their intention to attend were sent an invite to join the webinar which will feature LV= chair Alan Cook and chief executive Mark Hartigan. Insurance Business understands the webinar is a members-only event.
Ahead of the webinar, LV= published its response to some of the questions surrounding the £530 million takeover. “Why is LV= doing this and why now,” is among the queries it posted online.
Explaining its decision, LV= stated: “The transaction with Bain Capital Credit is the culmination of a lengthy and rigorous board-led strategic review to secure the best long-term future for our members.
“Following the sale of the general insurance business, it was clear to the board that LV= would require significant long-term investment to be sustainable – investment that if we remained a mutual, members would need to fund. Many with-profits policyholders would not see the financial benefits of these investments before their policies matured.”
It was also previously noted that LV= will be sending an information pack to all its members in the first half of 2021. The material is designed to detail what the proposal means for the mutual life pensions and investments group.
According to LV=, it will no longer be a mutual if the Bain Capital transaction crosses the finish line.
Meanwhile Gareth Thomas MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Mutuals, tweeted before today’s event: “Founded in 1843 and trading for most of its life as Liverpool Victoria, LV= was the largest friendly society in the UK until its recent conversion to a mutual company.
“The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Mutuals is taking an interest in the decision by the board of LV= to sell this business to Bain Capital and is keen to understand the reasons for this change in status and how it is connected to the proposed demutualisation.”
Thomas said members of the APPG are particularly concerned about the sale’s impact not only on LV= policyholders but on the wider insurance industry.
