Ageas Announced Termination of Interest in Making Offer for Direct Line

On March 22 Ageas announced it was no longer interested in making an offer for Direct Line. This follows the announcement of Direct Lines’ results last week where a new performance plan was laid out and confidence in the future value of the business was clearly communicated. This effectively raised the hurdle over which Ageas would need to demonstrate value accretion to both its own shareholders and those of Direct Line. We maintain our fair value estimates and no-moat ratings.