Employee shareholders in Tysers’ former parent company Integro Group Holdings (IGH) will receive no payout following the sale of Tysers to AUB Group, Insurance Insider can reveal.
Sources told this publication that employee shareholders – numbering more than 100 – received a short email from IGH owner Odyssey Investment Partners this week informing them of the development.
It is understood shareholders are now considering various courses of action to obtain clarity around their investments and the levels of debt accrued by IGH.
Many still work for Tysers, which has no involvement in the current dispute.
Odyssey bought New York-based broker Integro in 2015. In 2018, Integro bought London wholesaler Tysers and sold Integro’s US operations.
In 2019, Odyssey rebranded its UK broking business as Tysers and bought rival UK intermediary RFIB.
When Odyssey agreed to sell Tysers to AUB Group in 2022, it retained Tysers’ holding company IGH, which included some of the assets and liabilities of the operational company.
Employees who had bought in during the sales of Tysers to Integro and RFIB to Tysers held shares in IGH. It is understood employees owned around 10% of the business, with Odyssey holding the rest.
These staff were told in August 2022 they would have to wait at least two years after the closure of the sale of Tysers to AUB before receiving any equity payout, as this publication revealed.
Two and a half years on from the closure of the transaction, however, Odyssey has informed shareholders no payout is forthcoming.
In a brief email from Odyssey, seen by this publication, the company told shareholders: “All proceeds that Integro will receive have been settled and paid to those parties who were legally entitled to them. We do not expect distributions to any shareholder.”
The winding up of IGH is expected to complete later this year.
Sources told this publication that senior shareholders currently employed by Tysers have sent out a memo to other investors who are still part of the business addressing the issue.
In it, the senior shareholders claimed they had no transparency around the levels of debt IGH held and have so far been unable to gain clarity from Odyssey on the matter.
They pledged to continue working towards further transparency from Odyssey.
Tysers declined to comment. Odyssey did not respond to a request for comment.