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Ageas Ends Bid For Direct Line: Credit Positive But Spreads Moved Fast And Early On Friday

FINANCIALS

Ageas (AGS BB) pulled out of its bid for Direct Line (DLG LN) late Friday, after the close. Credit positive but spreads tightened hard on Friday, before the official announcement.


  • Hardly a huge surprise with one of Ageas’ key shareholders against the deal and DLG rejecting both the first, and improved, offers.
  • Ageas’ credit tightened meaningfully on Friday (>100bp) which reversed much of the underperformance since the deal was announced on 28-Feb. Also begs the question around the leakiness of this deal, the RNS being issued at 1830GMT Friday.
  • As we noted previously, the failed bid now looks like a sign of weakness from Ageas and could itself come to look like a target, which would likely be a credit positive event.

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