NorwichUnion’s Navigator could be the next candidate for rationalisation in the Australian master trust industry afterMoneyManagementhas learnt that Deutsche Bank is currently conducting due diligence on Navigator for ING.
If ING decides to go ahead, Navigator would become part of a joint-venture with ANZ.
A spokesman for ING refused to comment and officially Navigator is not for sale, but sources indicate Aviva, Norwich’s UK parent, would sell if the price was right. The company recently sold CGU, its Australian insurance operations on that basis.
A figure of $530 million has been quoted for Navigator, which has $8 billion of funds under advice.
Navigator managing director Marc Mengler denied there were any plans to sell the business, saying he was currently working on next year’s strategies for the wrap platform.
It is understood no official approach has been made to Norwich in Australia, although any sale would probably be handled by Aviva.
Norwich has recently launched Navigator in Singapore, which is the first step in making the wrap a global operation. This push would seem to make a sale of Navigator unlikely, however, a solution would be for Aviva to take out a global licence on the wrap.
