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Sampo plc signs agreement to acquire full ownership in Hastings

Written by Customer Service on . Posted in Mergers And Acquisitions.

SAMPO PLC                 INSIDE INFORMATION              8 December 2021 at 9:45 am

Sampo plc signs agreement to acquire full ownership in Hastings

In line with the Group’s P&C-focused strategy, Sampo plc has today signed an agreement with Rand Merchant Investment Holdings Limited (RMI) to acquire its ownership in Hastings. Under the terms of the agreement, Sampo will pay GBP 685 million for RMI’s 30 per cent minority interest in Hastings and the option held by RMI to acquire 10 per cent of Hastings’ share capital from Sampo by May 2022. The transaction is expected to be completed later today, on payment of the purchase consideration to RMI.

Combined with the initial acquisition in November 2020, the agreement implies that Sampo will pay a total of GBP 1,851 million for 100 per cent of the share capital in Hastings, which equates to 278 pence per share. Based on consensus estimates for 2022*, this implies a valuation of 14x earnings and earnings accretion of approximately 4 per cent.

The value of the minority and option (GBP 685 million) equates to approximately EUR 806 million, which will be funded through internal cash resources. The acquisition is estimated to have a negative 14 percentage points impact on Sampo’s Solvency II ratio and to increase financial leverage by approximately 1 percentage point. The ongoing EUR 750 million buyback programme and the management proposal for an extra dividend of at least EUR 2.00 per share will not be affected by the transaction.

– Since completing the acquisition of Hastings in November 2020, I have been ever more impressed by the high quality of its operations and personnel. I am delighted that we have had the opportunity to take our ownership to 100 per cent, says Torbjörn Magnusson, CEO and President, Sampo Group

– As the sole owner of Hastings, Sampo will gain full control of strategy, governance and capital management, enabling more agile decision making and frictionless knowledge sharing with If P&C. I look forward to working even closer with Hastings to execute on its strategic initiatives and capitalising on its strong position in the digital UK P&C insurance market, Magnusson continues.

Goldman Sachs International has acted as financial advisor to Sampo plc in connection with this transaction.

Conference call

Sampo will arrange an English-language conference call for investors, analysts and media. Group CEO and President Torbjörn Magnusson, Group CFO Knut Arne Alsaker, Chief of Strategy Ricard Wennerklint and Head of IR Sami Taipalus will attend the call.

8 December at 10:15 am Finnish time (8:15 am UK time)
Tel. +44 333 300 0804, +1 631 913 1422, +46 8 5664 2651, +358 9 8171 0310
Conference passcode: 83030346#

The conference call can also be followed live at www.sampo.com/conferencecall. A recorded version will be available later.

SAMPO PLC

For more information, please contact:

Sami Taipalus
Head of Investor Relations
tel. +358 10 516 0030

Mirko Hurmerinta
Investor Relations Specialist
tel. +358 10 516 0032

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
London Stock Exchange
The principal media
Financial Supervisory Authority
www.sampo.com

*) Based on Vara consensus estimates published 26 November 2021, with Hastings’ earnings adjusted to exclude non-operational amortisation of EUR 41 million relating to Sampo’s acquisition of 70 per cent of the Group’s share capital in November 2020

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