Admiral to sell Confused.com to USwitch owner in £508m deal

Insurance firm Admiral Group (ADM.L) is selling Confused.com and a suite of its other businesses to rival RVU in a deal worth £508m ($696.54m).

RVU is the comparison division of ZPG Comparison Services Holdings UK and owns price comparison site Uswitch.

The online comparison sector has seen surging demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shares in Admiral Group were up 3% at around 9am in London.

“The purchase of the UK and European comparison businesses by RVU offers a positive outcome for our customers and our employees, and also provides good value for our shareholders,” said David Stevens, chief executive of Admiral Group.

The catalogue of businesses for sale are part of the Penguin Portals arm of the business, which also includes Rastreator.com, LeLynx.fr, the group’s technology operation Admiral Technologies) as well as a 50% share of Preminen Price Comparison Holdings Limited (Preminen).

“The combination of Penguin’s strengths, notably in insurance comparison across much of Europe, with RVU’s strengths beyond insurance and experience in growth through acquisition provides a solid foundation for the combined businesses to grow and prosper. Admiral will continue to focus on what Admiral has consistently done well, namely designing and underwriting good value mass market financial service products,” Stevens said.

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In addition to the sale amount of £508m, an addition value will be accrued based on the date of completion for the deal.

Admiral said it expects to return a majority of the funds to shareholders, although some cash will be kept to “support investment in new business development over the coming years.”

“Penguin Portals offers an exciting opportunity for us to expand our consumer brand portfolio and geographic reach,” said Tariq Syed, chief executive officer of RVU.

“With its focus on insurance, Confused.com perfectly complements Uswitch’s existing expertise in the home services category, and, with equally established offerings in other countries, we have an opportunity to help even more consumers find the right deals for their needs.”

The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

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