‘MBO not an option’ says Carole Nash parent
THE UK boss of French insurance group Groupama – owner of the Carole Nash motorbike business – says there won’t be a fire sale of assets and that an MBO is not on the cards either.
Groupama has put its UK business on the market – including Altrincham-based Carole Nash – as it needs to cut its group debt after being hit by the eurozone crisis.
A price tag of more than £300m has been suggested for the assets, which also include brokers Lark and Cheshire-based Bollington.
François-Xavier Boisseau told the industry title Insurance Age: “The group has demonstrated already in France that when they do not receive a proper offer they do not proceed and execute the sale.
“There is no point for the group to under-sell the company at any cost. That is why it will take months to develop and we will see if the group is happy or not in selling based on the interest it has received.”
On the question of where he was mulling a buyout, he replied: “No we are not. To be blunt and honest, today an MBO is not on the table.”
He added that it was impossible to say yet what the end result would be and explained: “The group preference is to sell the operation in its entirety but we shall see what comes out of this process.”
