LV= faces pressure to say whether outgoing chief Mark Hartigan will take payout on exiting firm
Critics have hit out at mutual insurer LV= over its refusal to say whether it will give outgoing chief executive Mark Hartigan a payout, following his exit from the firm.
LV= has so far refused to say whether Hartigan will receive a payout or how much he might take, after the insurer on Monday announced the company chief will leave LV= after the search for a new chief executive is complete.
The insurer is now facing pressure to reveal whether Hartigan will receive a payout on his departure from LV=, after the firm said it will put forward details of the exec’s package following publication of its annual report next year.
Speaking to Morning Wire, Labour MP Gareth Thomas hit out at LV= as he expressed outrage over the possibility Hartigan might receive a payout following his handling of the collapsed takeover deal.
“Mark Hartigan’s departure has been inevitable since members realised just how much he stood to benefit from the fortunately unsuccessful attempt to demutualise and sell up to the controversial US private equity giant Bain Capital,” the MP, who has become a leading critic of LV=’s handling of the Bain takeover, said.
“It beggars belief that having wasted over £33 million of members money on a deal they had never agreed to embark on that he should get any sort of pay off,” Thomas said.
The resignation comes as Hartigan has faced mounting pressure to step down from the head of LV= following the collapse of US private equity firm Bain Capital’s controversial takeover bid in December 2021.
As chief executive, Hartigan previously led the push to demutualize LV= and sell it off to Bain, before members voted against the Boston private equity fund’s £530m offer at the end of last year.
The deal’s collapse opened a rift within LV= as members of the mutual insurer launched a grassroots campaign against Hartigan over his support for Bain’s takeover bid.
Hartigan’s tenure at LV= later sparked uproar amongst members, following revelations the company head received a £511,000 bonus in 2021 on top of his £435,000 salary for the year.
The firm also faced criticism following news it spent £33m on advisory fees in its effort to get the Bain takeover past the line, after members were told they would receive just £100 each if they voted the deal through.
Speaking to The Times, Peter Bloxham, an LV= member and a vocal critic of Bain’s takeover bid, called on the insurer to disclose details as to Hartigan’s exit package, as he said the firm’s failure to offer information is “typical of their lack of transparency”.
LV= have been approached for comment.