Admiral Group plc (LON:ADM) announced that it has entered into an agreement with former Admiral Group CEO Henry Engelhardt and his wife Diane Engelhardt whereby Diane will invest US$25 million into Compare.com.
As a result of the proposed transaction Diane will hold 17% of the share capital of Compare, with Admiral owning 59% and White Mountains and Mapfre USA the remaining 24%. Henry will join the Board of Compare.
The investment will be made at a 15% discount to the valuation of previous funding rounds, reflecting challenging current trading conditions. Accordingly, Admiral expects to record an impairment against the carrying value of Compare with its full year results. The current outlook is for the full year Admiral share of loss to be in line with the guidance at the 2018 half year results of US$8 million to US$13 million.
Henry and Diane currently hold 10.1% of Admiral’s issued share capital and therefore they are classified as related parties of Admiral. The Board is satisfied that the investment is being undertaken on an arms’ length basis and on terms that are fair and reasonable to shareholders. The transaction is a smaller related party transaction under LR 11.1.10.R.
Separately, Admiral has provided Compare up to US$10 million by way of a convertible loan.
Andrew Rose, CEO of Compare, commented:
“We are delighted to secure this investment and we look forward to working closely with Henry, who has deep knowledge and expertise of Compare and the US market.”
In addition, David Stevens, Admiral Group CEO commented:
“As outlined at our half year results, Compare is facing challenging market conditions in 2018. I remain optimistic over the long-term potential for the price comparison channel in the US and I very much look forward to having Henry as a close partner to continue building on the strong foundations already in place at Compare.”
