AXA UK has reached agreement with the board and two main institutional shareholders to buy Thinc Destini via a recommended offer. Thinc ...

AXA UK has reached agreement with the board and two main institutional shareholders to buy Thinc Destini via a recommended offer. Thinc Destini is a multi-channel advisory business with a UK national multi-tie, IFA network model with more than 650 advisors and approximately £3 billion of funds under advice. AXA will take over Thinc Destini using a new company, Advisory Services Limited. ASL has said that it believes that the Thinc Destini business model offers a good foundation for the AXA Group by providing a sizeable advisor population, an existing owned client base and an independent brand across the personal, wealth management and SME markets. Under the terms of the offer, the shareholders of Thinc Destini will share a maximum £70 million ($130 million), based primarily on the financial performance of the business during 2009, subject to certain deductions. AXA state that they have about 50 per cent acceptance already in place AXA has also agreed both to fund the repayment of Thinc Destini’s existing indebtedness - which arose from Thinc Destini’s acquisition of a number of IFA businesses - and to provide up to £30 million of new working capital. In addition, the new owners have stated their intention to provide long-term performance incentives for existing and new key management, employees and self-employed advisors of Thinc Destini. Paul Evans, chief executive of AXA Sun Life, said: “Thinc Destini should benefit from the operational management expertise and global distribution experience of the AXA Group. AXA UK’s core business will gain an additional source of shareholder value. We see the potential for significant growth in this area and we intend to pursue that growth aggressively. “Our intention is for AXA UK to run Thinc Destini as an independent advisory firm, separate from the product provider businesses. We believe that this acquisition will help strengthen our overall UK market proposition by extending our offer to the provision of independent financial advice and planning services. This is consistent with our intention to grow our distribution capability and gain greater and closer access to our customers.”