White Bear Capital, the parent company of Lloyd’s syndicate Blenheim, is to receive an investment of £80 million from Alchemy Special Opportunities Fund IV, a closed private equity fund managed by Alchemy Partners.
As part of the deal Alchemy will take a substantial stake in the group alongside the staff and existing investor Nephila.
It’s hoped the new investment will allow the group to bring onto its balance sheet exposure to Blenheim Syndicate 5886 and provide working capital to assist in developing the group’s MGA business, White Bear Managers.
Alchemy had previously teamed up with many of the White Bear team at Lloyd’s managing agency Cathedral.
“We are delighted to team up with Alchemy, who know our trading model really well as a cornerstone investor,” said Peter Scales, chairman of White Bear Capital.
“Our intention is to remain firmly in the third party capital business. We see this transaction as aligning our interests more closely with our ongoing and prospective new capital and capacity providers, who, we hope, will continue to grow with us as we move into an ever more positive trading environment.”
Dominic Slade, managing partner of Alchemy, added, “We are delighted to be partnering again with Peter and his team. Not only do industry commercial conditions feel right on the underwriting side but people and capital are on the move.
“White Bear is a flexible business model which aims to match the best underwriting talent with the best capital. It seems to us that the White Bear team are in the right place at the right time to be positioned for profitable returns on a high quality business.”
