Equity Insurance Group
Investing in this interesting specialist risk insurance business gave us the opportunity to put our knowledge of the Financial Services sector to use to develop a coherent and more dynamic company, in a sector under-exploited by our competitors. To do so we backed an ambitious CEO and brought additional new leadership into the company.
The business
In July 2005 we acquired Cox Insurance Holdings plc, renamed Equity Insurance Group in January 2006. To target the acquisition and help us through a complicated due diligence process, we teamed up with Neil Utley, former Cox Chief Executive, and Englefield Capital.
Equity is made up of an integrated underwriter and broker, and is a leader in the UK personal lines insurance market. The underwriting business operates through the Lloyds market, and trades as Equity Red Star. Equity is the largest motor insurer at Lloyds, the fifth largest in the UK, and a leading insurer of specialist classes, including motorcycle, classic car, minibus, and fleet. It is also one of the most profitable motor insurance underwriters in the UK, outperforming market loss ratios by an average of 15% over the past thirty years.
Equity Insurance Brokers is the UK’s seventh largest personal lines broker with over 750,000 policy holders. It operates through direct broking, brand name affinity partners, and a branch network.
Our strategy
Our strategy focussed on preserving and growing the company’s highly-profitable underwriting book. On the insurance broking side of the business, Equity’s shareholders backed further consolidation through aggressive branch and book acquisitions.
To help us achieve this and complete the team, we recruited Julian Avery, the former Chief Executive of Wellington Underwriting, as Chairman, and made several new senior appointments in the Finance, Underwriting, Broking and Claims teams.
We acquired Open and Direct, making Equity the leading personal lines broker in Northern Ireland.
The Lloyds environment allowed for an efficient capital structure which benefited from the strong cash generation of the business.
Widespread ownership re-energised the workforce and brought a previously divided set of businesses together behind a shared strategy.
Exit
We were approached by a number of interested trade buyers in the second half of 2006, who were attracted by Equity's high-quality underwriting and developing broking presence. The business was acquired by Australia’s IAG for €827 million in January 2007. This represented a return of 2.5 times the original investment and an IRR of 77%