Co-sign our letter to stop the sell-off of LV=
Update: We did it! The controversial takeover of historic mutual insurer LV= (Liverpool Victoria) by notorious private equity firm Bain Capital has been blocked after members voted to reject the deal. To stay up to date with the next steps of the campaign, you can still add your name and email below.
In just a few weeks, the controversial US private equity giant Bain Capital, could take over one of Britain’s oldest and largest mutuals. Millions of LV= (Liverpool Victoria) customers will lose their ownership rights and their ability to have a say in the company’s decisions.
Private equity firms like Bain Capital have a history of stripping assets, raising prices and slashing jobs. LV= members are fighting back against this sell-off to keep LV= customer-owned – but in the face of international investment giants, they cannot do it alone.
Will you stand with LV= members fighting this sale and co-sign our letter from Alex Sobel MP – a Labour & Co-operative MP and LV= member – calling on the LV= Chairman to stop the sale to private equity and keep LV= member-owned?
Alan Cook
LV= (Liverpool Victoria)
County Gates
Bournemouth
BH1 2NF
Dear Mr. Cook,
I am a member of LV= because, as a mutual owned by its customers, I believed that LV= would always place people above profit.
That’s why, like many other LV= members, I am bitterly disappointed by your decision to recommend the sell-off of LV= to the American venture capitalist firm Bain Capital – ending our historic mutual status.
Time and time again, we’ve seen that demutualisation rarely benefits members beyond a small initial pay out. In this case, LV= members could receive as little as £60 in compensation for giving up their ownership rights if customers vote for the sale to go ahead. There has also been a marked lack of transparency around the bidding and voting process.
LV= was founded to ensure even the poorest in Victorian Liverpool could afford the dignity of a proper funeral. Since then, alongside other co-operatives and mutuals it has pioneered a fairer way of doing business – working in the interests of customers, not distant shareholders. In contrast, private equity firms like Bain Capital have a history of stripping assets, raising prices and slashing jobs.
At a time when we need greater financial inclusion and a more diverse and accountable financial system after the COVID pandemic, it is disappointing that we look set to lose such a stalwart mutual institution – now is the time to widen ownership and rebuild a fairer economy, not sell out to an opportunistic private equity firm.
I personally have voted against this sale, and I am encouraging all other LV= members to make their voices heard. I am also writing to you today to ask that you reconsider the decision to recommend demutualisation and find another way forward which preserves LV=’s mutual status.
I have invited members of the co-operative movement who are concerned about the effect this sell-off will have not just on LV= members but on the wider mutual sector and financial landscape to join me in signing this letter. Their signatures will be included below.
Yours in co-operation,
Alex Sobel MP
Labour and Co-operative MP for Leeds North West
15,389 signatures
Help us reach 15,000
Co-sign the letter now
Promoted by Joe Fortune on behalf of the Co-operative Party, both at Unit 13, 83 Crampton Street, London, SE17 3BQ, United Kingdom.Co-operative Party Limited is a registered Society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Registered no. 30027R