Global re/insurance brokerage Acrisure has announced the successful closing of two transactions representing a significant $3.4 billion capital raise, led by merchant bank BDT Capital Partners.
BDT led a $3 billion investment, via its affiliated investment funds, into the broker’s Senior Preferred Stock.
Additionally, a consortium of investors, which the broker says were attracted by its tech-enabled vision and recent acquisition of Tulco’s insurance operation, invested $454 million of new capital in Junior Preferred Stock.
According to Acrisure, the BDT investment has aligned the capital structure to support the firm’s long-term goals and further supports Acrisure as it continues on its impressive growth trajectory.
A portion of the proceeds from the investments was used to repurchase in full the company’s existing Senior Preferred Stock and certain warrants, explains Acrisure.
Greg Williams, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Acrisure, commented: “These transactions are a clear reflection of how the market is valuing both the strength of our existing insurance brokerage business and, importantly, our vision for accelerating our technology initiatives going forward.
“These investments enable us to pursue strategic initiatives with aligned capital that will provide greater value for all shareholders.”
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Acrisure maintained its acquisition pace in 2020, acquiring 110 agencies, while also lowering its net debt leverage.
Byron Trott, Founder, Chairman and CEO of BDT Capital Partners, said: “Acrisure is an innovative leader in an attractive industry with a very strong management team led by Co-Founder Greg Williams.
“We look forward to a long-term partnership with Greg and his team, consistent with our business model of providing patient capital to founder and family-led businesses, while leveraging our network of closely held business owners and investors to support the company’s growth and expansion.”
By bringing together its financial strength, expertise and one of the largest data sets of any insurance broker with state-of-the-art technology and the entrepreneurial energy of a startup, Acrisure is looking to establish the next-generation distribution model.
“Based on our data, AI foundation, and global distribution capabilities, we will accelerate our growth in the insurance brokerage industry and into adjacent opportunities,” said Williams.
This significant capital raise follows on from news in December that Acrisure rebranded its reinsurance broking arm, Beach & Associates, as Acrisure Re and Acrisure London Wholesale.
Following the rebrand, Acrisure Re announced the appointment of Ben Canagaretna, previously of Arch Insurance Group, as Managing Director of the London corporate advisory and solutions business.
