$5000 Share Offer To Promote Promina Float
The Age
Monday March 10, 2003
Sydney
Royal & Sun Alliance will attempt to boost demand for the $2 billion float of general insurance, life and superannuation group Promina by offering its three million customers a guaranteed allocation of $5000 worth of shares.
But to be assured of the allocation, customers of AAMI, Australian Pensioners Insurance and Tyndall will have to pre-register on the 1800 hotline or complete a form online by Friday March 28.
Marketing for the float began this weekend when Promina began an advertising campaign yesterday to entice investors to pre-register.
The group also confirmed yesterday that retail investors will get a discount to the final offer price paid by institutions, but it is still to be determined.
Non-customers who pre-register will get a priority allocation of $3500. For all applicants, the final number of shares allocated could be scaled back if there are oversubscriptions.
Promina's eagerness to see its customers represented among its shareholder base and solidify their loyalty throws out a direct challenge to its main competitor, Insurance Australia Group, whose policyholders received shares on the group's demutualisation in 2000.
Promina, the renamed Australasian operations of Royal & Sun Alliance, confirmed the float process had moved into full swing, in line with the plan to list in the first half.
Pre-registered investors will receive a prospectus and personalised application form in April, while it is believed that the group hopes to list in March.
The group has provided scant financial details because of pre-prospectus advertising restrictions, but London parent Royal & Sun Alliance's #940 million ($A2454 million) annual loss, reported on Thursday, included robust performances by its Australian insurance operations.
As recent profit results by QBE and IAG have shown, the industry is enjoying a benign claims environment and rising premiums. But weak equity markets have constrained the bottom-line results, and make it a difficult time for Promina to float.
© 2003 The Age