BGL shelves IPO, sells 30% stake to CPPIB

The BGL holding company, BHL, will retain a majority stake in the company. 

The investment is CPPIB's second in the UK insurance market after its $750m buyout of Ascot Underwriting in September 2016.

BGL, the firm behind comparethemarket.com, said last year it was preparing for a £2bn IPO. During its IPO preparations, the company received a number of approaches from different kinds of investors and opted for an auction process, according to chairman Peter Winslow.

CPPIB will nominate a non-executive director to represent it on the board.

The pension fund, which manages a $328bn portfolio, is a prolific private equity investor with a number of direct investments and co-investments. 

The investment is expected to be completed by the end of April 2018.

Company
BGL is a digital distributor of insurance and household financial services. It owns the brands comparethemarket.com, LesFurets.com and life insurer BeagleStreet.com. For the year ending in June 2017, the group reported revenue growth of 14% to £585m and underlying growth in profit before tax of 19% to £126m.

People
BGL Group – Peter Winslow (chairman); Matthew Donaldson (chief executive).
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board – Ryan Selwood (head of direct private equity).

Advisers
Vendor – Rothschild (corporate finance).

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