Confused.Com Sale is Off

CAR insurance group Admiral has dropped plans to sell a minority stake in its price comparison website Confused.com after saying its private equity suitors were demanding too much control.

Admiral announced it would retain full ownership of Confused.com after ending talks with potential private equity buyers which had valued the online business at between pounds 600mand pounds 650m.

It said demands made over control of strategy were "more onerous than anticipated" and would have weakened its decision-making ability.

Admiral has not disclosed the size of the stake that was up for grabs, but reports suggest it was looking at selling a 25% holding.

The group put a stake in Confused.com up for sale in May after receiving a number of approaches from firms interested in buying the business.

Cardiff-based Confused.com has grown rapidly since its launch in January 2003.

The site last year provided nine million quotations and is expected to achieve earnings of around pounds 30mthis year.

Price comparisons sites have attracted substantial interest in recent months, with Ewloe, Flintshire, based moneysupermarket.com due to list on the stock market at the end of the month. Its shares will be priced between 170p and 210p, valuing it at between pounds 846mand pounds 1.04bn.

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