A shareholder group with a 6 per cent stake in adviser network Tenet is looking to capitalise on renewed provider direct distribution interest by playing other insurance company shareholders off against one another to sell the stake.
The Tenet Shareholders Action Group is made up of various ex-directors of advisory firms taken over by the network over the years, who were offered shareholding deals now worth an estimated £3m.
The group’s chairman Ian Gotts told FTAdviser that they have been trying to sell the shares for several years, but he believes that increased life company interest in moving into the adviser market to take advantage of opportunities around the April pension freedoms may spur others into making an offer.
The network is currently 94 per cent owned by insurers Aegon, Standard Life, Aviva and Friends Life.
Mr Gotts contended that after Aviva completes its takeover of Friends Life, they would have a 47 per cent shareholding, suggesting the combined company might be particularly interested as it could use the 6 per cent from the group to take a controlling stake.
He added that this possibility was likely to worry other shareholders, like Standard Life, which has recently made moves back into the adviser market and has a 25 per cent share in Tenet.
A spokeswoman for Standard Life confirmed the shareholding, but did not wish to comment any further.
Aviva stated that its shareholding stood at 23 per cent, but would speculate no further, while Friends Life’s share is currently 23.5 per cent, meaning the enlarged Aviva group could have a 52.5 per cent share if they bought the group's stake.
Last month Tenet posted a 6 per cent increase in headline turnover to £125.2m in its annual report and accounts for the year to 30 September 2014.
Earlier this week Mike O’Brien, managing director of TenetConnect and TenetSelect, said he was aware of two ongoing consolidation ‘plays’ going on right now, and to a lesser extent a third.
Mr O’Brien stated that the shareholders action group has been in contact with each of Tenet’s four provider shareholders over a protracted period of time with a view to selling their shares.
“As far as we are aware those discussions have not led to what would amount to be a private share transaction being agreed. At this particular stage none of our shareholders would have a controlling stake in Tenet if they acquired the shares of the minority shareholders.”
peter.walker@ft.com
