Admiral to sell Confused.com to Uswitch for £508 million

Admiral Group plc has announced that it has reached an agreement to sell the price comparison website Confused.com for £508 million.

Admiral announced it would be selling its “Penguin Portals Group”, which includes comparison websites Confused.com, Rastreator.com and LeLynx.fr, to the owner of its market rival, Uswitch.

Zoopla Property Group (ZPG), which owns Uswitch, will take control of the business through its price comparison arm ZPG.

David Stevens, Group CEO of Admiral Group commented:  “The purchase of the UK and European comparison businesses by RVU offers a positive outcome for our customers and our employees, and also provides good value for our shareholders.

“The combination of Penguin’s strengths, notably in insurance comparison across much of Europe, with RVU’s strengths beyond insurance and experience in growth through acquisition, provides a solid foundation for the combined businesses to grow and prosper.

“Admiral will continue to focus on what Admiral has consistently done well, namely designing and underwriting good value mass market financial service products. Comparison will continue to be Admiral’s most important distribution channel in Europe and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Confused.com, Rastreator and LeLynx as they continue to grow and strengthen the customer offering.

“It is a wrench to part company with our fellow employees at Confused.com, Rastreator, LeLynx, Admiral Technologies and Preminen, but I believe it is the right choice for the long-term success of the businesses and will create many interesting and worthwhile opportunities for our teams going forward. I thank them and their predecessors for their contribution to the success of the Group and to the financial well-being of their millions of customers.”

Admiral Group employs more than 10,000 staff, operating from offices in Newport, Cardiff and Swansea.

The net proceeds of the deal for Admiral is set to be around £450 million and it is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

Elena Betes, CEO of Penguin Portals commented:  “We are very excited for the next stage of our journey. Our purpose, strategy, expertise and culture align strongly with that of RVU. Becoming part of a global network of brands and platforms, united by the same mission to help people make better decisions, will bring significant benefits to our customers and our people.

“We are also very thankful for all of the support and guidance we have received from Admiral Group throughout the years. I would particularly like to thank David, Milena and Henry for their foresight and trust.

The extraordinary efforts of every member of the Penguin team has meant that in 2020 all of the Penguin Portals have proved to be highly resilient customer-centric businesses. Thank you Penguins! I know we will go from strength to strength with RVU as we are given great support, will benefit from highly relevant learnings and have huge ambition for the future.”