Towergate may be looking to buy John Charcol
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Insurance giant Towergate is believed to have earmarked John Charcol as a potential acquisition target and is thought to be looking to buy the brokerage.
John Charcol was reportedly put up for sale at the start of 2008 with a £50m price tag.
Towergate has made no secret of its desire to expand its IFA network and raised over £100m in 2008 to pursue regional companies.
It has also emerged that a separate company, John Charcol 2010, has been listed on Companies House.
The firm was incorporated on February 2 and its certificate of incorporation lists Tracy Lee Plimmer as company director.
The certificate makes no mention of John Charcol’s original founders John Garfield and Charles Wishart, who backed a management-led consortium in December 2004 four years after the firm was bought by Bradford & Bingley.
Towergate and John Charcol both declined to comment on a possible sale, and John Charcol further declined to comment on the set-up of John Charcol 2010.
Readers' comments (3)
john wishart | 22 Feb 2010 2:05 pm
Why on earth would anybody want to buy the failing company that is Charcol? They are no longer a challenge within the Mortgage world. They let most of their decent brokers go when they downsized and with that lost all of their experience within the mortgage world They have recruited a number of inexperienced brokers and I would be very surpised if this sale goes through!
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Anonymous | 22 Feb 2010 4:03 pm
Charcol are making huge losses.
They have lost their best staff (due to cost cutting) and offer very few exclusive rates compared to the likes of Sesame etc.
They run from a tiny offices in Holborn and they are not the force they used to be.
Good Luck to any buyer - trying to flog insurance to all of the Charcol clients may be the only saving grace.
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Anonymous | 23 Feb 2010 5:11 am
When was the last time you saw Peter Cullum buy a business that was on the up. He has made his fortune and increased towergate into a leading brand by purchasing small or failing business and turning them round...
Buy Norwich city please Peter
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