Australian financial services group AMP has made a cash offer for struggling UK personal finance operation Interactive Investor International.
In a brief statement confirming ongoing negotiations, Interactive Investor says the cash offer represents a small premium to its current net cash position.
In March, Interactive Investor confirmed the appointment of Credit Suisse First Boston to advise on a possible sale of the company or its businesses. The company had spent the previous four months working on a strategic and operational review of its business in response to deteriorating conditions in the online retail investment market. This included a reduction in full-time staff from 128 to 95 and cut-backs in spending on marketing, technology and administration.
As at 28 February 2001, the company had approximately 1.2 million registered accounts and 310,000 portfolio users of its service.
AMP last month launched Ample, an online investment supermarket for UK consumers, featuring a combination of tailored and targeted information and a choice of 400 funds from 22 managers.