<article>AMP Ltd said on Thursday Ares Management had withdrawn its buyout offer for the Australian wealth manager overnight, as it posted a 32% fall in annual profit on heavy cash outflow from its flagship arm.</article>

AMP Ltd said on Thursday Ares Management had withdrawn its buyout offer for the Australian wealth manager overnight, as it posted a 32% fall in annual profit on heavy cash outflow from its flagship arm.
Ares had been the only known party to table a bid for the whole firm after scandal-plagued AMP announced a portfolio review of all its businesses last year, including a wealth management business, a bank and an asset manager.
Sydney-based AMP said it had concluded the review of its wealth management and banking divisions, but continued to evaluate AMP Capital, considered its most valuable unit. Ares was &#8220;engaging&#8221; with AMP as part of that process.
Representatives from Ares did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
&#8220;The completion of the asset review (with) Ares not proceeding with offer, on all assets except for AMP Capital will concern investors who need a complete sale and not a sale of the most prized asset only,&#8221; UBS analysts said in a note.
Shares in AMP, for which Ares had offered A$1.85 each, fell 10.7% to A$1.37 in early trade.
AMP Chief Executive Francesco De Ferrari told journalists the company wanted to finalise the review process &#8220;as soon as possible&#8221; although he gave no time frame. He added that AMP also could decide to retain AMP Capital.
&#8220;We&#8217;re very convinced of our strategy, the opportunity to re-pivot to real assets,&#8221; he said.
The company reported that underlying profit for 2020 fell to A$295 million ($227.8 million) from A$439 million a year ago, and that net cash outflows from its wealth management business rose 32% to A$8.3 billion.
A government scheme allowing workers to draw on their retirement savings during the coronavirus pandemic had accelerated those outflows.
AMP said it was &#8220;committed&#8221; to resuming dividend payments this year, as it sought to return cash to investors from the sale of its Life Insurance unit.
AMP has struggled to repair its reputation since a public financial sector inquiry in 2018 exposed systemic wrongdoing at the company.
With &#8220;earnings not recovering, the turnaround story for AMP is harder to see,&#8221; UBS said.
Reuters

Ares had been the only known party to table a bid for the firm after scandal-hit AMP reviewed its business portfolio last year.

Ares Management withdraws offer for Australian wealth manager AMP

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Ares Management withdraws offer for Australian wealth manager AMP

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