Former AXA UK and ex-Pru chief executive Mark Wood is talking with a consortium of investors to take over RAC, Insurance Times understands.
Private equity and banks are believed to be interested in taking Wood onboard because he could help oversee the management of RAC’s insurance arm.
Wood has extensive experience in insurance after running AA’s insurance arm for three years and AXA UK.
One source said: “There are 300,000 policies with RAC and it’s at break even point. That should be making between £10m and £12m in profit, but it’s not. There’s real potential there.”
Insurance Times can also reveal that Boston Consulting, a global American consulting firm that advises a host of private equity clients, has been dispatched by one of the bidders to scour the market for individuals to manage RAC.
Yesterday it emerged that Brightside had been in talks with investors to manage RAC.
An industry source speculated that Brightside had been talking to private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice.
If successful, one possibility could be for Brightside to team up RAC with personal injury law firm New Law.
Helen Molyneux founded New Law in 2004 and she is also a non-executive director with Brightside.
Brightside is an attractive option for private equity because it has a solid insurance background and could help maximise the potential of RAC's insurance arm.
Another bidder is understood to be private equity firm Carlyle. It owns a stake in car rental firm Hertz.
Analysts believe RAC would sell for around £600m. Aviva called in advisors JP Morgan to handle the sale process in March. Wood could not be contacted for comment.
Aviva's decision to sell RAC was first revealed by Insurance Times in March.
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