Ardonagh's Australian based business Envest secures substantial investment from Macquarie Capital Principal Finance

The Envest Group (“Envest”) a privately owned diversified insurance platform, part of The Ardonagh Group (“Ardonagh”) has secured a substantial investment from Macquarie Capital Principal Finance to provide growth capital to accelerate its acquisition journey in the Australian insurance distribution sector. Macquarie will own a 15% minority interest in Envest in a transaction that values Envest at over A$1bn enterprise value. This investment is on top of the debt finance package provided by Macquarie Capital Principal Finance earlier this year.

Envest currently includes two large insurance broking networks, Aviso Group and Resilium and 16 independent insurance agencies with a broad remit of products and services.  It is the largest privately owned distribution platform in Australia, and since February 2023 has been majority owned by Ardonagh, a leading global independent insurance distribution platform, placing $14bn GWP ($USD) annually.

In 2023, Envest made more than 27 acquisitions with consolidated EBITDA growing rapidly in the past three years. Envest currently has a combined GWP (Gross Written Premium) of $1.7bn across Australia.

Envest CEO Greg Mullins commented: “We have the best of both worlds, with backing from Ardonagh and Macquarie Capital Principal Finance which is going to be a significant strategic partner for both us and Ardonagh in Australia.

“We offer a real alternative to listed players and an owner driver culture that resonates strongly with the industry and our business partners.

“We like to back insurance businesses that have strong relationships with their customers and will be helping them drive value through our scale, network and operational support.”

Richard Turner, Managing Director in Macquarie Capital Principal Finance in Melbourne, said Envest represented a unique investment opportunity, with combined strengths of cultural alignment within its distribution platform and strong earnings growth and shareholder returns.  He noted “Macquarie Capital Principal Finance has been part of the Envest journey since 2020 and looks forward to continuing to back Envest’s strong growth.”

Macquarie Capital Head of Principal Finance for Asia Pacific, Newton Gillies, said Macquarie has been a long time investor in the insurance distribution sector and continues to view its fundamentals as strong.

Aurelio Cusaro, Chief Investment Officer of Ardonagh, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Macquarie back as a strategic partner and investor in Envest.

Macquarie was an exceptional counterparty during our acquisition of Envest earlier this year, and when the opportunity arose for them to invest back into the business, we saw this as a great development given their unparalleled market position in Australia and long-standing relationship with our Australian colleagues.

We are very pleased with the growth and success of Envest to date and look forward to continuing to support Envest’s position as the leading, privately owned insurance distribution platform in Australia.”

BACKGROUND

MACQUARIE CAPITAL PRINCIPAL FINANCE

Macquarie Capital Principal Finance utilises Macquarie Group’s balance sheet to invest across the capital structure, providing debt and equity solutions for clients across North America, Europe and Australasia.

THE ENVEST GROUP

Headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Envest is an insurance investment and distribution group with a diverse portfolio of businesses and a national footprint. The combined portfolio has over 700 employees, writes more than AU$1.7 billion in gross written premium. The Ardonagh Group completed its acquisition of Australian insurance firm Envest PTY Ltd (“Envest”) on 3 February 2023, for a consideration of AU$482 million (£270 million).

THE ARDONAGH GROUP

The Ardonagh Group is a leading global independent insurance distribution platform. We are collection of best-in-class entrepreneurial and specialist brands with a network of more than 200 locations and a combined workforce of more than 10,000 people. Across our portfolio, we offer a highly diversified range of insurance-related products and services across the full insurance value chain in the UK, Ireland and broader international markets. From complex multinational corporations to individuals purchasing personal insurance policies, our understanding of the communities we serve, together with our scale and breadth, allows us to work with our insurer partners to deliver a broad range of product and risk solutions that meet customer needs.