The battle to save LV from private equity predators intensified last night as the mutual’s members hit out at a planned takeover.

Hundreds have contacted the Mail with concerns about the £530million

The battle to save LV from private equity predators intensified last night as the mutual’s members hit out at a planned takeover.

Hundreds have contacted the Mail with concerns about the £530million deal – which would earn the historic insurer’s members as little as £100 each.

Regulators have been urged to step in over fears that those voting on the deal were given ‘one-sided’ information about the proposed buyout. 

At present, LV – formerly Liverpool Victoria – is owned by its 1.2million members. But board members want to sell the 178-year-old insurer to investment company Bain Capital, having turned down an approach from another mutual, Royal London.

Private equity firms have become notorious for pursuing quick profits by cutting jobs – then leaving behind long-term problems.

Critics of the deal are demanding to know how much chief executive Mark Hartigan and chairman Alan Cook – who are backing the offer from Bain – stand to benefit from the deal.

The battle to save LV from private equity predators intensified last night as the mutual’s members hit out at a planned takeover

Bosses swore blind they wouldn’t sell out 

Nervous: John and Rena Higgins voted early against the takeover 

John Higgins and his wife Rena feel ‘betrayed’ by LV over the sale to Bain Capital. 

The couple have been with the mutual company for more than 30 years – and are fighting against the private equity firm’s takeover. 

Mr Higgins, 85, from Ayr, said: ‘We have had a succession of chairmen who have all sworn blind they would maintain its mutual status. And now we just feel betrayed. The intention appears to be to sell the business under our nose.’

The couple have voted early against the takeover but are nervous about the outcome. 

Mr Higgins said: ‘The package that came through looks very sophisticated. People who have less of an acumen for this kind of thing than us may be influenced that the takeover is for the best. My fear is that this is what will happen – enough people will vote Yes to back the takeover.’ 

A £100 sum – described as an ‘insult’ by the couple – has been promised to policyholders if the Bain Capital buyout goes through. 

Mr Higgins explained: ‘It’s a dinner for two. I am trying to rally support against the takeover among the members’ panel – most are strongly against it anyway.’ 

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Some policyholders are now seeking a Special General Meeting before members decide on the buyout next month. Their proposals include opening talks with Royal London – and dismissing Mr Cook and Mr Hartigan.

Members have been offered just £100 each to give the company up. Around 340,000 who own ‘with-profits’ policies will get an additional small sum when their policies mature.

One policyholder, Duncan McGibbon, has launched a petition on the website change.org, calling on the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority to pressure LV into releasing more documents about the deal. He claims the information released to members was ‘inadequate and one-sided’.

As the backlash grew, former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said LV was being ‘dismembered’ and urged members to ‘think hard before they vote’. 

Maintaining mutual status is a moral issue 

Duncan McGibbon had hoped that LV would be sold to another mutual. Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual insurer, is reportedly waiting in the wings should Bain fail

Stopping the sale of LV to Bain Capital is a ‘purely moral’ issue for Duncan McGibbon. 

A member of the mutual for over 30 years, he said: ‘It’s very important for me to be a member of a mutual. It empowers people, and gives a sense of belonging to a movement bigger than oneself. The issue is a purely moral one.’

The former teacher, 72, from Bath, added: ‘LV claimed Bain Capital was the best option... it’s utter hypocrisy. The leadership stand to maintain their positions after any takeover.’ 

Mr McGibbon had hoped that LV would be sold to another mutual. Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual insurer, is reportedly waiting in the wings should Bain fail. 

Mr McGibbon has now started a petition asking regulators to prevent the vote until LV releases more details about rival bids.

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Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, called for the FCA to stop the deal. 

‘They should prevent this going ahead,’ he said. ‘We used to have a strong mutual sector but this is disappearing.’ 

He continued: ‘The suspicion is that this is in the interest of executives, not members. They’ll get a big payday out of this.’

Concerns were also raised about the experts hired by LV to advise on the deal. One, Oliver Gillespie of consultancy Milliman, was appointed by LV to ‘evaluate the implications’ of the sale to Bain. 

Labour MP Gareth Thomas, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Mutuals, has written to Mr Gillespie asking whether he had been told why other offers ‘were not acceptable’.

Mr Thomas has also written to Simon Grout of FTI Consulting, who is due to be called on in court when LV tries to push through its demutualisation. 

While Mr Grout is supposedly independent, he is employed by the same firm acting as LV’s public relations adviser. Mr Thomas has asked him: ‘Can you therefore explain how there isn’t a conflict of interest?’

A spokesman for FTI said there were strong internal divisions separating its consulting and PR arms to guard against such problems.

LV’s bosses claim the insurer desperately needs more cash to fund its future expansion, and that Bain’s offer was the ‘only option that offered both an excellent financial outcome for members and gave unrivalled support for the LV brand, our people and UK-based locations’.