Crescent sells stake in Australia's ClearView Wealth for $111m

The company said in a filing that the shares - 98 million of them, based on the size of Crescent's current holding - would be priced at A$1.48 apiece. This represents a 21% premium to ClearView's October 24 closing price. The stock ended October 25 at A$1.32 and had slipped to A$1.26 by the end of morning trading on October 26.

Crescent currently holds a 52.9% interest in ClearView, having headed a consortium that submitted a takeover offer for the business in July 2012. The private equity firm subsequently won the support of ClearView's leading shareholder, Guinness Peat Group, with a bid of A$0.55 per share - valuing the company at around A$245 million - plus a dividend payout of A$0.04 per share. Shareholders representing 79.7% of ClearView's shares accepted the offer.

Other consortium members included Macquarie Funds Group, which took a 13% interest in ClearView. As of August 2016, it was no longer among the company's 20 largest shareholders.

ClearView offers life insurance and wealth management products and financial advisory services. It has seen significant growth in its life insurance business during Crescent's ownership period, with premiums rising from A$62 million in 2013 to A$150.7 million for the year ended March 2016. The number of distributors on the approved product list with ClearView products more than trebled over the same period, while annual new business nearly doubled and operating profit trebled.

The company also has A$2.13 billion under management in its wealth management business, up from A$1.53 billion in 2013. Most of the new assets in this pool are in full wrap platforms for high net worth individuals that give exposure to multiple asset classes.

ClearView's underlying net profit reached A$27.2 million in the 2016 financial year, up from A$20.5 million in 2015 and A$16 million in 2013. The life insurance division accounted for A$24.5 million of the total. Since January 2013, the company's stock price has gained 123%.

A subsidiary of Sony Corporation's Tokyo-listed financial services holding company, Sony Life provides life and health insurance products and other endowment products, as well as nursing care and personal pension services. Simon Swanson, managing director at ClearView, said that Sony Life will bring significant experience to the company as it seeks to grow its business.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Open market
• Financials
• Australia
• Crescent Capital Partners
• Exit