Chanticleer

AMP’s grim reality is now clear

The end of Ares Management’s tilt to buy AMP outright means it has no choice but to go it alone on the rebuild of its embattled wealth business.

Updated Feb 11, 2021 – 7.04pm, first published at 1.25pm

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The withdrawal of Ares Management’s $6 billion bid to buy AMP outright makes it clear that there is no white knight with a fat cheque book coming to take the group’s wealth mess off its hands.

The board says its strategic review has decided that retaining AMP Australia (which contains the wealth business and AMP bank) will deliver the best returns for shareholders, but the withdrawal of the Ares’ bid on Wednesday night, and the apparent lack of another credible offer, means AMP has little choice but to go it alone.

James Thomson is senior Chanticleer columnist based in Melbourne. He was the Companies editor and editor of BRW Magazine.