UK’S NFU MUTUAL ENLISTS DKW TO DEFEND MUTUAL STATUS

UK rural insurer NFU Mutual has appointed investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to defend its mutual status from attempts by at least two consortia of investors to encourage a policyholder-backed demutualisation vote, the Financial Times reports. Analysts say that the move to appoint DKW as its defence strategist shows how threatened NFU Mutual feels by the investors, which are expected to hold out to policyholder farmers the prospect of demutualisation windfalls of up to £25,000. Former NFU senior manager John Murray — who is now non-executive chairman of Zurich Municipal, the UK local authority insurance arm of Zurich Financial Services — is reportedly looking to raise support from policyholders for a hostile takeover “within months”, while an earlier approach is expected from a consortium of investors headed by John Caine, chairman of London-based public relations firm GCI Financial. A spokesperson for the Mr Caine-led consortium said that it was “only a couple of weeks away from preparing a friendly approach”. DKW is reported to be advising NFU Mutual — which is valued at between £2bn and £3bn — on its strategic options, which could include either a stockmarket flotation or a trade sale.