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Amanda Blanc needs to increase her bid for insurer Direct Line by “several hundred million pounds” if the Aviva boss is to secure control of his rival, founder Sir Peter Wood says.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday from his Palm Beach mansion in Florida, near Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, he also expressed frustration that Direct Line has lost its way.
“I turned it into the most efficient insurance company in the world,” he said, describing how he eliminated the middleman: the insurance broker.
“It’s sad that it was managed so poorly. After I left, the human resources department grew tenfold. It didn’t develop a feminine brand, multi-car or multi-family policies, and just seemed to regress.”
Wood says staying away from comparison websites was a mistake, adding: “They should have made Direct Line a premium product, where people answer the phone straight away and you have a person giving you personal attention.”
Swoop: Aviva boss Amanda Blanc bid £3.3bn for Direct Line
He expressed sympathy for chief executive Adam Winslow’s effort to turn the situation around, saying: “He’s trying to do a good job, but it’s a three or four year job.”
On Thursday, Direct Line rejected Aviva’s £3.3bn offer, under which shareholders would receive £1.12 a year per share in cash and 0.28 of a new Aviva share for each Direct Line share they held.
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