The Ardonagh Group announces sale of Commercial MGA Lines
01 November 2018
The Ardonagh Group (“the Group”) today announces it has entered into an agreement to sell its Commercial MGA businesses to Arch UK Holdings Limited (“Arch”) which is conditional upon performance criteria for a consideration of up to £31 million.
From 1 January 2019, the books of business supporting the information to renew for the Arista, Fusion, Towergate Personal Accident and Travel, and Towergate Commercial MGA brands will transfer to Arch along with approximately 250 employees from these businesses and nine associated offices.
Proceeds of the sale will be used for further investment in the Group.
Geo Underwriting’s Personal Lines, Private Clients, Specialty and Agriculture brands AIUA and BIBU remain as part of The Ardonagh Group.
Commenting on the announcement today, CEO of The Ardonagh Group David Ross said:
“Almost 18 months after the creation of the Group, we now find ourselves looking across our portfolio and assessing where we can drive organic growth from leading positions.
“For us, an MGA is most effective in niche and specialist areas. While we’ve undertaken strategic remediation actions within our commercial MGA lines over the past two years and worked with carriers to improve loss ratios, these books now fall outside that strategy and we believe are best placed to succeed within an insurance company. Arch therefore provides the perfect platform from which to drive these businesses forward.”
Paul Dilley, CEO of Geo Underwriting added:
“The Group remains committed to our niche businesses in personal lines, agriculture, and UK specialty markets where our offerings from Geo Underwriting and its partners remain market leading.
“In Arch, our commercial MGA brands have found the ideal home, a renowned global insurer brand with a strategy focused firmly on future growth and expansion into new markets.”
Notes to Editors
THE ARDONAGH GROUP
The Ardonagh Group is the UK’s largest independent insurance broker with global reach. We are a network of over 100 office locations and a workforce of almost 6,000 people. The Ardonagh Group was created in June 2017, bringing together Autonet, Chase Templeton, Direct Group, Price Forbes and Towergate, with the additional acquisitions of Healthy Pets in August 2017, and Carole Nash and Mastercover announced in December 2017. Our understanding of the communities we serve, together with our scale and breadth, allows us to work with our insurer partners to deliver solutions that meet our customer needs.
For more information, please email: ardonagh@powerscourt-group.com
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