Old Mutual says it’s considering a ‘small IPO’ for OMW
Old Mutual, the British-South African financial services group that owns Old Mutual Wealth, said today it is considering “the possibility of a small initial public offering” for its UK-based wealth management arm, as part of its previously-announced break-up.
The comment about a possible IPO was contained in a routine trading update published on its website and that of the London Stock Exchange this morning London time, ahead of its annual general meeting, also this morning.
As reported, the company announced in March 2016 that it would break itself into four parts in order to, as Old Mutual group chief executive Bruce Hemphill put it at the time, “unlock value currently trapped within the Group structure”.
Today’s statement noted that the company had already informed the market of its plans to see to it that the managed separation “would be materially complete by the end of 2018”.
“To that end, we intend to pursue one or more transactions which will ultimately deliver two separate entities, listed on both the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges, into the hands of Old Mutual plc’s then shareholders,” it added, in the statement.
“One will consist principally of the OMW [ Old Mutual Wealth] operations, and the primary means of achieving this outcome is likely to be through a de-merger, with the possibility of a small initial public offering”.
Separately in today’s statement, Hemphill said: “”We are very pleased with the progress we have made since announcing managed separation. We have said we would create four independent businesses, and with the recently announced transactions in respect of OMAM, that business is now independent.
“We are aiming to complete the two listings that will materially deliver the managed separation at the earliest opportunity in 2018 after our full-year results, subject to regulatory and other approvals.”
The update goes on to note that already, as a result of the ongoing moves to break up the company, “Old Mutual plc no longer reports on a quarterly basis”, and such component entities as OM Asset Management, the Nedbank Group and Old Mutual Wealth are now making their own public announcements in respect of quarterly business performance.
It also makes reference to the termination, on 2 May, by OMW of its contract with IFDS, the UK platform services provider, and its replacement with FNZ.
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