Passing Go for Future millions
BOSS QUIDS IN WITH GO-COMPARE SALE
AN insurance tycoon is set to pocket more than £40million in cash through the sale of the firm behind price comparison website GoCompare.
Peter Wood will also get £135million in shares if the proposed £594million takeover by publishing giant Future goes ahead.
Sir Peter, who founded Direct Line and Esure, is chairman and the largest shareholder in GoCo, best known for GoCompare and its Gio Compario opera singer adverts.
Future owns magazines from Woman’s Own and Chat to Country Living, gadget guide T3 and a number of hobby titles.
As well as print products, it has a booming online arm which now makes up the majority of sales.
The tie-up is part of encouraging readers looking up reviews and advice to go on to buy related insurance, including home and motor, or discounts through GoCo-owned business MyVoucherCodes. Sir Peter, who would retain a sizeable number of Future shares, called the deal “transformative”. “It makes an awful lot of sense,” said the serial entrepreneur, who has a property empire and is worth £790million. “We could never afford to buy a business like Future.” The deal, which still needs shareholder approval, is set to lead to £10million of savings. Future’s chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said: “We’ll be like the shop where the assistant can offer you advice on the product, then show you where to buy it.” But Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, described the deal as “baffling”. He said: “The deal is clearly a positive for GoCo shareholders, at least in the short term, but what it offers Future investors is less clear.”