Takeover talk has not left M&G since it was spun out of the Asia-focused insurer Prudential four years ago.
The asset management specialist has been valued at a perennial discount to peers. Despite the shares outperforming rivals like Jupiter, Schroders and Abrdn since the demerger, they still trade at an undemanding ten times forward earnings. That leaves the group in play for an acquirer that could strip out costs from the business.
Andrea Rossi, the boss of the FTSE 100 constituent, has put in place a three-year plan to cut costs by £200 million (excluding inflation), bring down the cost-to-income ratio of its asset management arm to below 70 per cent and reduce leverage to sub-30 per cent. Top of the pile is a
