Saga’s ex-boss back on board after equity move

SAGA’S former boss secured his return to the top of the company yesterday as shareholders voted through a £150m equity raising that saw him take a 26.4pc stake in the insurance and cruise provider.

Sir Roger De Haan, the son of the firm’s founder Sidney De Haan, has ploughed £100m into the company and will j oin the board as its chairman on Monday.

He had already committed £75m and raised his investment to £100m in line with an earlier pledge to snap up extra shares if there was not enough demand.

Existing s hareholders were offered the chance to invest up to £75m but took up only 43.6pc of the shares made available to them with Sir Roger and other investors stepping in to make up the shortfall. Analysts said the figures suggested some institutional investors chose not to participate.

Sir Roger invested at an average price of 18p per share, a company spokesman said, well above yesterday’s 1 1 . 3p closing price after shares fell 1.4p, or 11.3pc.

The company opted last month to reject a “highly conditional” 33p-a- share approach from two US private equity firms in favour of the equity raising.

The businessman sold Saga to Charterhouse, a private e quity group, f or £1.35bn in 2004 after 20 years at the helm.

Saga, which focuses on customers over 50, has endured a difficult few years since its 2014 flotation. The Covid-19 crisis has forced it to suspend its cruise operations and it fell to a £55m loss for the 12 months to July 31.