The insurance entrepreneur Sir Peter Wood is staying on as chairman of Esure and taking a £50 million bet on the future of the company he founded as it confirmed it had agreed to accept a £1.2 billion offer from Bain Capital, the private equity investor. Sir Peter is selling most of his 31 per cent stake, taking £310 million in cash, but in a deal exclusively arranged for him, will roll over £50 million of his investment into shares in the private holding company created to own Esure in future. Australian taxpayers will also take a punt on the business, whose brands include Sheilas’ Wheels, via the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, which is expected to own a stake of about 10
Esure has recommended a takeover bid priced at £2.80 ($3.56) per share, valuing the company at £1.2bn, from Bain Capital. The deal would create one of Europe’s biggest biotech companies, with annual sales in excess of €1bn and an operating profit margin above 10%.