The boss of insurer Direct Line plans to launch a new strategy this month after the company rejected a £3.1 billion takeover offer from a Belgian rival, The Mail on Sunday understands.
Adam Winslow is set to mount his defence of the company alongside annual results on March 21.
Winslow has not had long to prepare as he joined Direct Line just two days after the board rejected the ‘unattractive’ offer from Belgium’s Ageas at the end of February.
He is keen to lay out the case for why Direct Line should remain an independent company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The FTSE 250-listed firm was launched in 1985 as the UK’s first telephone-only insurer.
Racing ahead: Adam Winslow was hired in the knowledge he would need to overhaul the business, but he is now having to cram a months-long review process into three weeks
It has about 10 million customers and its brands include Churchill and Green Flag.
Although Direct Line’s board rebuffed Ageas’s approach, the predator may come back with a higher offer. Rival bidders may also enter the fray.
Winslow’s plan is expected to outline ways that Direct Line could become more tech-savvy, which could include setting up an app for the first time. He is also likely to propose cost cuts.
Winslow was hired in the knowledge he would need to overhaul the business. But he is now having to cram a months-long review process into three weeks.
The move on Direct Line came shortly after two other bids for London-listed companies.
Currys rejected a bid from American investment group Elliott Advisors, while logistics group Wincanton accepted a £762 million offer from US suitor GXO.
Direct Line’s founder Sir Peter Wood told The Mail on Sunday last week that the company had been run ‘so abysmally’ for years that it deserved to be taken over. The insurer has released multiple profit warnings over the past few years.
In January of last year it scrapped its dividend after admitting it had been caught out by a surge in claims for burst pipes caused by icy weather.
Within weeks it parted ways with chief executive Penny James.
It was later forced to repay about £30 million to customers who were charged more than they should have been to renew home and car insurance policies.
Direct Line posted a loss of £76 million in September. It sold a commercial insurance unit for £520 million in an effort to shore up its balance sheet.
