Takeover of Birmingham broker agreed, but second acquisition stalls.
Oval is close to completing a deal to acquire Birmingham broker Perkins Slade but has been unsuccessful in its attempt to land another large broker, Lucas Fettes.
Perkins Slade chief executive David Slade confirmed a deal with Oval had been agreed, as revealed by insurancetimes.co.uk last week.
Slade said he held talks with a number of other interested firms, and the deal should be completed by the end of May. “We have signed an agreement with Oval and we are now proceeding with due diligence,” he said. “We are having frequent discussions about how the two businesses will work together.”
Insurance Times revealed in January that Oval was set to begin talks with Perkins Slade, which has a brokerage of more than £7m according to its most recent accounts.
Meanwhile, talks between Oval and London-based broker Lucas Fettes appear to have stalled. Robin Lucas, managing director of Lucas Fettes, confirmed that discussions with Oval had broken down.
A market source said the talks collapsed because of conflicting interests between the two brokers.
In November, Lucas told Insurance Times that he would be willing to consider offers from consolidators in an attempt to expand the business. He said: “Our strategy over the next three to five years is to find a larger partner which we can consolidate with. We will look for someone who can take us on to the next level and give us the market clout so we can grow.”
Lucas Fettes controls around £45m in premium, and has nine offices across England and Scotland offering general insurance and other fiancial services.
Oval was unavailable to comment.
