IFG Group agrees to ?206m Epiris takeover deal

(Sharecast News) - Financial services company IFG Group said on Monday that it has agreed to be bought out by private equity firm Epiris in a £206m deal, as it released its final results.Epiris has offered 193p a share in cash, which represents a premium of approximately 46% to IFG's closing price on Friday.The board of IFG unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the offer, which it deems to be "fair and reasonable".Chief executive officer Kathryn Purves said: "We are pleased to be announcing this transaction today and believe it is an excellent outcome for shareholders, for the company, and for our clients. "The offer by Epiris represents a compelling opportunity for shareholders to realise an immediate and attractive cash value for their shareholding in IFG today. In addition, our employees and clients will benefit under the ownership of Epiris which should help accelerate the delivery of IFG's strategic objectives and the underlying strategies of James Hay and Saunderson House."The offer announcement came alongside the company's preliminary results for the year to the end of December 2018, which revealed an 18% jump in adjusted operating profit to £12.4m and a 12% increase in revenue to £87.6m. This was driven by repricing and increases in the Bank of England interest rate at James Hay and a strong performance at Saunderson House.Shore Capital analyst Paul McGinnis said the offer announcement renders what it regards as "a very solid set of results" somewhat of a sideshow.McGinnis said that while the offer is at a 46% premium to the IFG closing price at the end of last week, it is below the broker's last published sum of the parts of 260p."While we think there may be scope to push the offer a little higher, we commend the management for the job they've done operationally and strategically. We also commend patient shareholders who we have always felt would be ultimately be rewarded for holding this special situation."At 1010 GMT, the shares were up 41% to 187p.