Want to buy a thriving life company that nobody else seems to want? Going for about $74 million. Apply to Wesfarmers. Or maybe Lumley.

Only a few weeks off settling its proposed $375 million acquisition of the Australian and New Zealand operations of the Lumley Group, Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers has announced Lumley’s life company won’t be part of the package. CEO Michael Chaney doesn’t believe in holding non-core assets, so the decision has been made to get rid of Lumley Life prior to completing the sale.

Fair enough, but there’s some confusion over whether the seller or the buyer is in charge of the disposal. Wesfarmers Public Affairs GM Keith Kessell told Sunrise Exchange News the life business “will definitely be sold” but agreed there is some complexity over whether Lumley will sell the operation before the Wesfarmers acquisition.

“Obviously we can’t sell what we don’t own, but it won’t affect the acquisition in any way,” he said. “Wesfarmers won’t be handling the life operations, and that’s all I really can say.”

Lumley Executive Chairman Anthony Crichton-Brown told the Australian Financial Review the life business “is a great niche operation, which is tracking very well this year”. But Wesfarmers has its own objectives and Lumley Life is “not really core to their business”. 

The AFR reported as many as eight potential buyers have shown interest in purchasing the company, and Mr Crichton-Brown suggests the selling price will be around  $74 million.