Spark MBO terms improved

Internet investment specialist Spark Ventures has received improved terms for a proposed management buy-out of its fund manager operation.Spark has put in place a plan to wind down over the next five years. Under the new terms, the initial target for distributions to shareholders before management incentives become payable has been raised to £49.3m, £4.1m higher than under the original MBO. This is now equivalent to 12p per ordinary share, Spark said.The company will also own 30% of the new management company at no extra cost. This is an improvement of 10 percentage points over the terms of the original MBO.In a statement, the Independent Non-Executive Directors said they remain convinced that the executive directors are best placed to maximise the sale proceeds as the portfolio is realised over the next five years.The MBO structure gives the best available assurance that these managers will remain in place as the assets are disposed and minimises costs and risks if they all remained employed by the Spark, the statement added.There is a meeting on 2 October to vote on the revised MBO proposals.