US private equity firm submits bid to acquire Insignia Financial

Insignia Financial has announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that it received a bid from US private equity firm, Bain Capital, to acquire the company.

In a statement made this morning, the Insignia Financial Board said it was “considering” whether the non-binding indicative proposal made by Bain Capital on 12 December was in the “best interests of shareholders”.

The current terms of the bid state that shareholders would receive $4 cash per share (adjusted for any dividends paid or payable after the date of the proposal).

However, the announcement emphasised that “there is no certainty” that the proposal may result in a binding offer or that a transaction would eventuate.

“The Indicative Proposal is expressed to be subject to a number of conditions including satisfactory completion of due diligence on an exclusive basis, execution of a binding scheme implementation agreement, unanimous recommendation from the Insignia Financial Board of Directors and commitment from all directors to vote in favour of the transaction (in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert concluding that the transaction is in the best interests of IFL shareholders) and approval of Bain Capital’s Investment Committee,” Insignia Financial’s statement said.

“In addition, any transaction would, if entered into by Insignia Financial, be subject to the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.”