Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society (Liverpool Victoria) has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the CSMA’s roadside rescue provider Britannia Rescue, for around £36 million. The sale is subject to CSMA member and regulatory approval, to be decided at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 20th March 2007. 

The proposed transaction is for an estimated £36 million, of which £18 million is to be paid to CSMA in cash on completion of the deal. It will also release an estimated £8 million of value, currently held within the existing underwriting vehicle, to be retained by CSMA.

It will then position Liverpool Victoria as the preferred provider of roadside rescue and recovery services to CMSA members, while remaining the preferred supplier of insurance and other financial services products to CSMA members.

In a bulletin announcing the agreement it was noted that “Britannia Rescue is the UK’s fourth largest roadside rescue provider with approximately 300,000 customers. Britannia Rescue reaches around 50 percent of breakdowns within 30 minutes and 92 percent within one hour, one of the best performance records in the industry. In 2006 it was named ‘best buy’ for road rescue services for the third consecutive time by the UK’s leading consumer research organisation.”

The acquisition is said to fit with Liverpool Victoria’s plans to grow its general insurance business over the next five years. Chief Executive of the Group, Mike Rogers, commented: “This acquisition is an excellent opportunity for us to broaden the range of products we offer to our customers, with the addition of a market leading and excellent value road rescue offering.”