Martello Re Limited, the Bermuda-based Class E life and annuity reinsurer, has successfully raised $1.3 billion across a second round of equity funding and the upsizing of its current credit facility, enabling the firm to provide support to additional cedants and selectively expand into new lines and regions.
It was revealed in May that Martello Re was considering a capital raise of at least $800 million to support the execution of its long-term strategy to create a leading asset-intensive reinsurer supporting insurers in the US and beyond.
Today, the life reinsurer has confirmed the successful closing of a second round of equity funding, during which the firm raised $935 million of equity commitments from a mix of new and existing shareholders, which exceeds the initial target by almost 17%.
At the same time, Martello Re has increased the size of its current credit facility by $360 million with the addition of four new banks to its group of lenders.
Together with the reinsurer’s current equity and credit facility capacity, these new commitments take total drawn and undrawn capital at Martello Re to approximately $3.6 billion, which is impressive considering the company only launched in 2022 with initial equity of $1.65 billion.
The capital raised will not only enable Martello Re to continue to support its two existing cedants as a strategic reinsurance partner across a range of product lines, but also to provide reinsurance solutions to new cedants expected to be added in the coming years. Additionally, the new funds will enable the company to selectively expand into new lines of business and geographies in the future.
Dennis Ho, Chief Executive Officer of Martello Re, commented: “This is an exciting milestone for our company. Since launching a little over two years ago, Martello Re has grown rapidly to more than 70 employees and over $23 billion in assets under management. Today, we are one of the largest asset-intensive reinsurers in the industry and can offer insurers a reinsurance partner with industry-leading underwriting, risk management, and asset management capabilities.
“We could not have reached this point without the support of our founders MassMutual, Barings, Centerbridge Partners, and Brown Brothers Harriman as well as the dedication and hard work of our exceptionally talented employees. Our company is excited to continue the execution of our long-term strategy of providing life and annuity insurers with a financially strong reinsurance partner that is dedicated to helping them grow their most important business lines.”
