IFA’s performance too poor to trigger deferred payment

Insurance group AXA will not pay the £60m deferred consideration related to its 2006 acquisition of independent financial adviser Thinc Destinti, now part of Bluefin Advisory Services, because Thinc’s 2009 financial performance failed to hit the requisite targets.

The news is unrelated to AXA's insurance broking division, Bluefin Insurance Services.

Under the terms of the acquisition, AXA was to pay a maximum of £100m for Thinc, of which £60m was a deferred, performance-related sum. Following an independent view from accountancy firm Grant Thornton, AXA has determined that Thinc missed its performance targets.

The company attributed the division's performance to market conditions, the regulatory environment and the restructruring of Bluefin Advisory Services, which resulted in an impairment charge of £62m related to the write-down of Thinc’s carrying value.

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