Bain Capital saga underlines flaws in law governing sector, such as lack of basic accountability to members
The sale of Liverpool Victoria, or LV=, to private equity is dead, but the dissatisfaction around the proposed deal with Bain Capital will be harder to shift. That is not only because the same beleaguered board of LV intends to stay in place and lead the next chapter – negotiations with fellow mutual Royal London. It is also because the rules around transactions involving mutuals lack a basic level of accountability to the owners, the members.
As noted in this column a few weeks ago, life is simpler in the quoted-company arena. You get a clean process, overseen by the Takeover Panel, which operates on the excellent principle that the owners (shareholders in that case) must be treated fairly and have full opportunity to judge the merits of a proposed deal, which means giving them clear, accurate and timely information. Any statement that is even vaguely misleading or incomplete is pounced upon.
