Belgium’s Ageas has agreed to purchase UK insurer Esure from personal fairness agency Bain Capital for round £1.3 billion (€1.5bn).
Insurer Ageas mentioned the deal would permit it to avoid wasting a minimum of £100 million (€115.8mn) per yr earlier than tax, based on a press release launched on Monday.
The agency added that the deal will develop its attain, serving to to develop its market income to £3.3bn (€3.8bn) by 2028.
The transaction is predicted to shut within the second half of this yr, topic to regulatory approval.
“This transaction will permit us to supply aggressive worth propositions to a wider buyer profile through a multi-channel distribution mannequin, positioning Ageas UK as one of many high three private strains insurers,” CEO of Ageas Group, Hans De Cuyper, mentioned on Monday.
CEO of Esure Group, David McMillan, mentioned in the identical assertion: “Combining Ageas’s scale, monetary energy and glorious dealer relationships with esure’s robust retail manufacturers, market-leading knowledge capabilities and energy on PCWs, alongside a shared know-how platform, will improve our mixed capability to spend money on our buyer proposition and open up new alternatives for development.”
Esure, which additionally operates beneath the model names Sheilas’ Wheels and First Various, was based in 2000 and has been owned by Bain Capital since 2018. The group paid £1.2bn (€1.4bn) to finish public possession of the agency in 2018.
The deal additionally comes after Ageas tried to develop its UK footprint by bidding for Direct Line. The British automobile insurer rejected two takeover bids from Ageas, the second of which valued the agency at £3.2bn (€3.7bn), branding the provide as “unattractive” for shareholders.
Direct Line is now being acquired by the UK’s largest insurer Aviva for £3.7bn (€4.3bn), a takeover Direct Line authorized after rejecting the agency’s first provide. The acquisition means the mixed group dominates greater than 20% of the motor insurance coverage market and 15% of the house sector.
Esure mentioned it had seen “glorious progress” in its monetary report for 2024, making a turnover of £1.1bn (€1.3bn), in comparison with £973mn in 2023.
The corporate made a buying and selling revenue of round £126.8mn (€146.7mn) final yr, up from a lack of £16.7mn in 2023.
The deal between Esure and Ageas comes after the UK authorities launched an investigation into the excessive price of automobile insurance coverage final yr, though costs have been falling in latest months.
