Deal could be sale or stock market listing, says Sky News

Gary Hoffman

The owners of motor insurer Hastings are gearing up for a £1bn sale or initial public offering, Sky News reports.

Sky News said it understood Hastings would start a ‘beauty parade’ of investment banks this week to appoint advisers to consider the company’s options in the coming months.

It added that the deal is not likely to take place until later in the year.

Hastings is 50% owned by investment bank Goldman Sachs’s merchant banking division following a £416.5m debt refinancing completed in January 2014. The remainder is owned by the company’s founders, employees and the management team, led by chief executive Gary Hoffman (pictured).