Completion of Disposal

RNS Number : 2244D

B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC

01 March 2022

 

Date: 1 March 2022

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc

("B.P. Marsh", "the Company" or "the Group")

Completion of Disposal

 

Completion of Summa Insurance Brokerage, S.L. ("Summa") Disposal

B.P. Marsh is pleased to announce that, further to its announcement on 11 January 2022 regarding the conditional disposal of its 77.25% shareholding in Summa, regulatory approval has now been received and the disposal has now completed.

Summa has been acquired by Acrisure España S.L., part of Acrisure LLC ("Acrisure"), the global financial services business.

The Group has received cash proceeds of £9.6m in relation to the disposal, comprising of:

· £8.1m after all associated costs, for its 77.25% shareholding in Summa (as at 31 July 2021, the most recent published valuation, the Group valued its shareholding in Summa at £8.0m); and

· £1.5m in full for the Group's outstanding loan to Summa.

Available Cash Balance

This realisation has increased the Group's cash balances to £18.1m, from £8.5m reported in our recent Trading Update released on 8 February 2022.

The Group's cash position has been bolstered by a number of successful realisations, alongside the above, over the past 6 months, including inter alia:-

MB Prestige Holdings PTY Limited - the Australian high value motor underwriting agency; and

Walsingham Motor Insurance Limited - the UK based motor fleet underwriting agency.

Dividend

As noted in the recent Trading Update, the Board has recommended a dividend of 2.78p per share (£1.0m) for the financial year ending 31 January 2022 to be paid in July 2022. This is subject to Shareholder Approval at the Company's Annual General Meeting.

It remains the Board's aspiration to maintain a dividend of at least 2.78p per share for the years ending 31 January 2023 and 31 January 2024, subject to ongoing review and approval by the Board and the Company's shareholders.

Commenting on the Group's strong liquidity position, the Group's Chief Investment Officer, Dan Topping stated:-

"This latest of a number of realisations by B.P. Marsh once again demonstrates the success of our investment approach over a number of years. The Group is now well capitalized, and has a strong pipeline of new investment opportunities, alongside exciting opportunities for growth within the existing portfolio, which should deliver substantial shareholder returns."

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc	www.bpmarsh.co.uk
Brian Marsh OBE	[phone]
Nominated Adviser & Broker Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited
Atholl Tweedie / Charles Leigh-Pemberton / Ailsa MacMaster	[phone]
Financial PR & Investor Relations
Tavistock Communications	[e-mail]
Simon Hudson / Tim Pearson	[phone]

Notes to Editors:

B.P. Marsh's current portfolio contains fourteen companies. More detailed descriptions of the portfolio can be found at  www.bpmarsh.co.uk .

Since formation over 30 years ago, the Company has assembled a management team with considerable experience both in the financial services sector and in managing private equity investments. Several of the directors have worked with each other in previous roles, and all have worked with each other for over ten years.

 

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