Review of the year: May 2017

5) Before the combined company was rebranded as Ardonagh Group and started making a few acquisitions, the Towergate owners brought together their general insurance businesses in May 2017 under the name KIRS Group. Its fundraising, which was announced shortly after, has since been completed and the overarching firm has been renamed Ardonagh Group.

Towergate owner issues £800m debt offer

The then newly formed KIRS Group, created by Towergate’s backers, launched an £800m secured bond offering and committed to enter into a £90m super senior revolving credit facility.

The business confirmed that the money would be used to refinance existing debt, pay for buying Direct Group and Chase Templeton, pay transaction costs and put cash on its balance sheet.

4) Earlier in the year Lloyd’s made the headlines for its booze ban, but by the summer the organisation reached more troublesome times as it invited staff to register for voluntary redundancies. The corporation has since announced it is to cut its UK headcount by 10%.  

Lloyd’s contacts all staff about voluntary redundancies

Lloyd’s wrote to all of its 1,100 staff to invite them to register their interest in a voluntary severance programme.

The story was first reported by The Insurance Insider and Lloyd’s said it had not provided staff with a target number of voluntary redundancies, adding that it was currently reviewing its operational structure.

The corporation stated it did not have a figure attached to the programme at this moment in time, but that it was part of a process to cut out duplication and make the organisation more efficient in its dealings with the rest of the market.

3) Long before Allianz’s deal to buy LV was confirmed, rumours about an impending transaction circulated the market. In May 2017 LV confirmed it had received approaches from a number of parties and was considering its options.

LV confirms approaches for its general insurance unit

LV confirmed that it had been approached by several possible buyers about its general insurance operations.

This followed reports from Sky News on 12 May that LV was in talks with German insurer Allianz over the sale of a minority stake in its GI division.

However, LV’s latest statement, while noting recent press speculation, did not mention Allianz as a potential bidder.

2) Another rumour floating around the sector this spring was that of a possible sale of Markerstudy. However, later in the summer capital actions moved the insurer from a £109m deficit to a £20.6m surplus and group underwriting director Gary Humphreys confirmed that Markerstudy was now set to make acquisitions instead.

Markerstudy silent on possible sale

Markerstudy group commercial director Martyn Holman declined to comment on the news that Markerstudy is exploring a sale.

The story was first reported by The Insurance Insider and according to the article the possible sale is a result of tightened regulation and pressure following the change in the Ogden rate.

Holman told Insurance Age: “It’s a straight forward no comment on that one.”

1) There was a wave of departures at ERS in the year leading up to May 2017. In March the provider stated that former chief operating officer Tim Yorke was leaving the business, which followed former commercial director Sam Hudson’s departure in September 2016.

Three more senior underwriting departures from ERS

Insurance Age revealed that Gareth Barrett, portfolio underwriting manager – motorcycle retail; senior underwriter Chris Larkby and Andrew Dodd, head of motor fleet underwriting, have left ERS.

The preceding week the provider had confirmed that underwriting director Mark Bacon was leaving the business after six years.

Stay tuned to Insurance Age for our reviews of June through to December.