GRP wants Camberford to buy

Camberford Law is on the acquisition trail following being bought by Global Risk Partners (GRP).

The deal, revealed by Insurance Age today (2 February), saw GRP buy a majority stake in the specialist MGA.

GRP chief operating officer Stephen Ross commented: “We see it as an opportunity for Camberford Law to make selected acquisitions.

“They have a number of businesses they would like to talk to.”

Network
Ross also said the deal would “give traction” Camberford Law to work with GRP’s network of retail brokers.

“One of the things we are focusing on is on the retail side is organic growth and Camberford Law can only help us with that,” he noted.

In addition he said he also wanted to see the business grow third party distribution to brokers across the country.

The deal bolsters GRP’s MGA division which also includes European Property Underwriting, Plum Underwriting and City of London Underwriting.

Ross commented: “We are looking to grow the MGA business more but there will be a focus on specialist and niche product sets.

“We have a strong pipeline across both sides of the business.”

Deal
Camberford Law has been in GRP’s sights for “quite a while” according to Ross. He declined to say how long but rumours that Camberford Law was for sale first surfaced around a year ago.

The deal sees MD David Ottewill and director Paul Cooper exit the business – Cooper will remain for “a few months” to ensure the transition goes smoothly. They have both sold their shares in the business which were acquired after an MBO in 2008.

Simon Carter takes on the MD role and directors at the MGA will retain a “significant minority share”, according to Ross.

Technology
As part of the deal GRP has also bought Camberford Law’s technology platform CloudDesk.

The IT business designed Camberford Law’s underwriting system and quote and bind system. GRP is now considering using the platform, which Ross said helps products get to market quickly, across its other businesses.

Looking ahead Ross hopes to see Camberford Law achieve “stronger penetration” throughout GRP’s retail brokers and to grow its reach to third party businesses.

He added: “In terms of acquisitions it is always difficult to predict but we will be trying.”

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