Sanne sees revenue grow despite takeover ‘distractions’

The bosses of Sanne have said that they managed to push past the distraction caused by a series of takeover bids to post significant growth.

The asset manager saw turnover push up 16.5% to £203.7 million and has benefited from a recovery in the market for alternative assets.

In August it agreed to a £1.5 billion takeover from Apex Group after a battle of the suitors between Apex and Cinven, a private equity firm based in London.

Chairman Rupert Robson and chief executive Martin Schnaier, in a joint statement on Friday, said: “Despite the material distractions arising from well-publicised offers for the company during the year, 2021 has seen a strong financial performance from the group, with impressive double-digit growth and maintenance of healthy profit margins and cash conversion.”

The business reported a loss of £2.2 million before tax in 2021, from a £20.5 million profit the year before.

They said that Sanne has started to see good returns from its investment in business development and product specialist teams. The investment has happened over the last three years and has helped grow the company’s revenue.

“It is particularly pleasing to see this result given that the group was the subject of takeover speculation and a formal offer period for the majority of the year,” they said.

It won £33.4 million in new business last year, which is more than 48% higher than the year before and a record high for the business.

“We have also successfully completed three acquisitions in the year to both drive growth and expand the group’s geographic footprint and augment our capabilities in our target end markets,” the bosses said.