IFG’s James Hay bid approved

IFG’s acquisition of British pensions company James Hay Holdings, received shareholder approval yesterday and is now likely to be formally concluded within the next four-to-six weeks.

The Irish financial services group’s shareholders voted in favour of the deal – and the launch of an open share offer aimed at raising €50 million to partly fund the buyout – at an extraordinary general meeting (egm) in Dublin, yesterday.

However, the €38m deal still requires regulatory approval – primarily from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Britain – and that is expected to be granted by early February. IFG’s management is not expecting any problems with the regulatory approval of the deal, while the open offer will close at 11am on Thursday.