Esure flotation nets insurance tycoon Peter Wood £198m windfall

Peter Wood made his first fortune founding the Direct Line insurance business. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

Insurance tycoon Peter Wood has landed a windfall of nearly £200m after taking Esure public in London's biggest flotation of the year so far.

Esure, which insures about 5% of Britain's drivers, was valued at £1.2bn in the public offering on Friday. It is a dramatic increase in value since Wood led a management buyout of the group in 2010, buying a 70% stake from state-backed Lloyds Banking Group, in a deal which valued the insurer at just £260m.

Wood, who still owned almost half the company before Fridays' float, sold about a third of his stake for £198m. His remaining 31% stake is worth £390m at the current share price.

Esure is best known for producing jingle- and catchphrase-heavy TV adverts for its brands Sheila's Wheels and Esure, and its joint venture Go Compare. The Esure brand used the late Michael Winner to deliver the punchline: "Calm down, dear, it's only a commercial."

Wood can be held personally responsible for those adverts, having always refused to hire a marketing director and taking charge of publicity campaigns himself.

He has led the company since setting it up in 2000, with backing from the Halifax. But the bank was forced to sell its 70% stake in the insurer, in the wake of the rescue merger of Halifax-owner HBOS with Lloyds.

Wood's subsequent management buyout was backed by Tosca Penta Capital, a fund managed by Penta Capital. Tosca sold shares worth £304m in the offering and retains a 12% stake in the business.

Wood will stay on as executive chairman with a £730,000 annual salary, private health insurance and his own driver for business and personal use. He has said: "This is my seventh insurer – and my last. I will be here for as long as I can make a contribution. Or until Stuart [Vann, chief executive] taps me on the shoulder and says: 'Time for a bit more golf.'"

Vann sold £2.9m worth of shares in the offering and retains a 0.5% stake in the business. Around 1,000 other employees will share a £3m bonus, following the flotation, paid in shares, which can be sold in three years' time.

Wood made his first fortune founding the Direct Line insurance business in 1985 in conjunction with Royal Bank of Scotland. He left the business after a falling out with the bank and went on to found Esure. He has also set up insurance businesses in Spain and the US, and last year the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his personal fortune at £500m. Among his holdings outside the insurance industry is a significant stake in model train and Scalextric group Hornby.

The successful IPO gives another boost to London's new listings market. Also on Friday, windfarm investment fund Greencoat UK Wind raised £260m in a share offering. UK estate agent Countrywide, meanwhile, has seen its shares rise by about 11% since its stock market debut on Wednesday.

Esure shares were sold for 290p each, towards the upper end of the 240p-310p range. They jumped 8.6% higher on their debut and are now trading at 305p.

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Esure staff to share £3m bonanza after insurance firm's flotation

From the postroom to the boardroom, around 1,000 Esure workers are set to share a £3m payout following the company's flotation this month.
The insurance business behind what are arguably some of the most annoying adverts on TV for brands including Sheila's Wheels and gocompare.com made the announcement in its prospectus as it plans to go public with a value of up to £1.3bn.
If successful, it will make the FTSE 250 listing the biggest of the year so far and leave multimillionaire founder Peter Wood with up to £151m when he sells a quarter of his 49% stake in the firm he set up 13 years ago.
He will remain the biggest shareholder, with 35% of the company, and stay on as chairman with a £730,000 annual salary, private health insurance and his own driver for business and personal use.
The sale is also set to give a significant boost for the Exchequer, with up to £42m due in capital gains tax on Wood's windfall, after the businessman, who is known for paying substantial tax in the UK, decided against relocating to Jersey for the flotation.
Esure's chief executive Stuart Vann could earn up to £1.7m for his work in the first year and chief finance officer Darren Ogden, could earn up to £1m.
The firm employs 1,400 staff and the prospectus reveals it will give long-service awards to any members of staff who have been there for two years or more.
A source close to the business said: "It will be very democratic, with the payouts based purely on length of service rather than on pay level, and ranging from a few hundred to several thousand pounds."
The payouts will be in the form of shares worth £3m in total, which can be sold in three years' time.
The company, which insures 5% of British motorists, aims to sell around 50% of its share capital for between 240p and 310p per share as bosses start a two-week roadshow to woo potential investors. Around £50m of the cash raised will be used to pay off company debts and if the float succeeds the business will move straight into the FTSE 250, alongside rival insurer Direct Line, which was also founded by Wood and floated by Royal Bank of Scotland last October.
"We have worked hard for many years to make Esure a business that can compete at the highest level with confidence," Wood said. "Today is a milestone reached through enormous hard work by the Esure board, executive team and staff.
"We live and breathe insurance at Esure and look forward to bringing that knowledge, commitment and focus to bear as a premium listed company."
Vann will get a basic salary of £475,000, with a 16% pension top-up payment of £79,000, plus a bonus of up to £356,250 in the first year if certain financial targets are met. He will also be entitled to shares worth £831,250 at flotation, but will not be able to cash them in for at least three years and then only if targets are achieved.
Ogden will take home up to £514,600 in the first year and entitled to £465,000-worth of shares which he can sell in three years, pending achievements.
Some bonuses will have clawback agreements attached to them.
The float comes just three years after Wood led a management buyout of a 70% stake from Lloyds Banking Group, which valued the insurer at just £260m.
Never employing a marketing manager, Wood has always overseen the brand image of the business, including the neon pink-clad women advertising Sheila's Wheels, using Michael Winner in Esure commercials with the catchphrase "Calm down, dear" and joint venture Go Compare with its opera-singing mascot.
He also set up Direct Line, with its distinctive red phone on wheels and catchy jingle. Direct Line was recently floated by RBS and became particularly popular with retail investors, with shares rising 20%.
Wood recently told the Guardian: "This is my seventh insurer – and my last. I will be here for as long as I can make a contribution. Or until Stuart [Vann] taps me on the shoulder and says 'Time for a bit more golf'."
Last year Esure revealed that annual pre-tax profits had doubled to £116m.

Esure staff to share £3m bonanza after insurance firm's flotation

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Peter Wood who has run Esure since the launch in 2000, will retain a 35% stake in the business. Photograph Frank Baron for the Guardian

From the postroom to the boardroom, around 1,000 Esure workers are set to share a £3m payout following the company's flotation this month.

The insurance business behind what are arguably some of the most annoying adverts on TV for brands including Sheila's Wheels and gocompare.com made the announcement in its prospectus as it plans to go public with a value of up to £1.3bn.

If successful, it will make the FTSE 250 listing the biggest of the year so far and leave multimillionaire founder Peter Wood with up to £151m when he sells a quarter of his 49% stake in the firm he set up 13 years ago.

He will remain the biggest shareholder, with 35% of the company, and stay on as chairman with a £730,000 annual salary, private health insurance and his own driver for business and personal use.

The sale is also set to give a significant boost for the Exchequer, with up to £42m due in capital gains tax on Wood's windfall, after the businessman, who is known for paying substantial tax in the UK, decided against relocating to Jersey for the flotation.

Esure's chief executive Stuart Vann could earn up to £1.7m for his work in the first year and chief finance officer Darren Ogden, could earn up to £1m.

The firm employs 1,400 staff and the prospectus reveals it will give long-service awards to any members of staff who have been there for two years or more.

A source close to the business said: "It will be very democratic, with the payouts based purely on length of service rather than on pay level, and ranging from a few hundred to several thousand pounds."

The payouts will be in the form of shares worth £3m in total, which can be sold in three years' time.

The company, which insures 5% of British motorists, aims to sell around 50% of its share capital for between 240p and 310p per share as bosses start a two-week roadshow to woo potential investors. Around £50m of the cash raised will be used to pay off company debts and if the float succeeds the business will move straight into the FTSE 250, alongside rival insurer Direct Line, which was also founded by Wood and floated by Royal Bank of Scotland last October.

"We have worked hard for many years to make Esure a business that can compete at the highest level with confidence," Wood said. "Today is a milestone reached through enormous hard work by the Esure board, executive team and staff.

"We live and breathe insurance at Esure and look forward to bringing that knowledge, commitment and focus to bear as a premium listed company."

Vann will get a basic salary of £475,000, with a 16% pension top-up payment of £79,000, plus a bonus of up to £356,250 in the first year if certain financial targets are met. He will also be entitled to shares worth £831,250 at flotation, but will not be able to cash them in for at least three years and then only if targets are achieved.

Ogden will take home up to £514,600 in the first year and entitled to £465,000-worth of shares which he can sell in three years, pending achievements.

Some bonuses will have clawback agreements attached to them.

The float comes just three years after Wood led a management buyout of a 70% stake from Lloyds Banking Group, which valued the insurer at just £260m.

Never employing a marketing manager, Wood has always overseen the brand image of the business, including the neon pink-clad women advertising Sheila's Wheels, using Michael Winner in Esure commercials with the catchphrase "Calm down, dear" and joint venture Go Compare with its opera-singing mascot.

He also set up Direct Line, with its distinctive red phone on wheels and catchy jingle. Direct Line was recently floated by RBS and became particularly popular with retail investors, with shares rising 20%.

Wood recently told the Guardian: "This is my seventh insurer – and my last. I will be here for as long as I can make a contribution. Or until Stuart [Vann] taps me on the shoulder and says 'Time for a bit more golf'."

Last year Esure revealed that annual pre-tax profits had doubled to £116m.