A Parting of the Waves
One big story I haven’t commented on yet is the one that Paul Newey has reportedly sold the secured loans specialist, Ocean Finance, to American International Group (AIG).
The deal is said to have followed two years of talks between the organisations. Apparently Newey put Ocean up for sale in 2004, but no one would match the reported £250m price tag. Some reports say that MBNA, the US Credit Card Company, were once close to a deal, but later pulled out.
Ocean, which has a residential mortgage portfolio of £60m, made profits three years ago of about £27m on turnover of £65m but has yet to publish full accounts for this year.
Newey’s rise to fortune has been impressive, he co-founded Ocean in 1991 with a £2,500 investment after being made redundant from a financial services firm, then six years later he bought out his partner and now owns most of the company’s shares. The business specialises in secured loans, but also offers mortgages and re-mortgages.
Newey is also quite famous for reportedly winning £3million in a Birmingham casino, which is said to have contributed to Stanley Leisure issuing a profit warning that subsequently saw a sharp decline in their share price.
On this side of the pond, AIG is quite well known for its large shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United.
The deal with AIG is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete in late 2006 or early 2007
