The proposed demerger of Man Financial from parent company Man Group could make the brokerage more agile and able to pursue takeover targets with renewed vigour, according to industry insiders.
One source told FO Week that the brokerage unit, to be known as MF Global, would be able to dedicate itself even more to acquisitions without the headache of having to seek approval from a parent company. Man has already been strongly acquisitive in the brokerage arena, assimilating some of the component parts of major rival Refco, following the latter's collapse in 2005 (see FO Week Vol 10 No 45).
That Man Group has been planning to...