Re/insurance industry deal activity was down by 8.7% and 6.5% in North America and the UK, respectively, during the fourth quarter of 2019, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.
A total of 157 deals worth $13.13bn were announced for North America Q4 2019, the firm found, versus a four-quarter average of 172 deals.
Of all the deal types, M&A saw most activity in Q4 2019 with 118, representing a 75.2% share for the region.
In second place was venture financing with 34 deals, followed by private equity deals with five transactions, respectively capturing a 21.7% and 3.2% share of the overall deal activity for the quarter.
The top five insurance deals in North America accounted for 91.4% of the overall value during Q4, with their combined value amounting to $12.01 billion.
These included New York Life Insurance’s $6.3 billion asset transaction with Cigna, the $3.1 billion acquisition of Privilege Underwriters by HCC Insurance, Resolution Life Holdings’ $1.25 billion asset transaction with Voya Financial, the $720 million acquisition of IAS Parent Holdings by IA Financial Group, and the $635 million venture financing of Bright Health.
In the UK, a total of 29 deals worth $4.86 billion were announced in Q4 2019, compared to the last four-quarter average of 31 deals.
M&A was the leading category in the quarter with 24 deals which accounted for 82.8% of all deals.
In second place was private equity with three deals, followed by venture financing with two transactions, respectively accounting for 10.3% and 6.9% of overall deal activity in the country’s insurance industry during the quarter.
The top five insurance deals in the UK accounted almost the total value recorded over the period, representing $4.84 billion against the overall value of $4.86 billion.
These deals included Phoenix Group Holdings’ $4.27 billion acquisition of ReAssure Group, the $560 million private equity deal with Riverstone Management by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Helios Underwriting’s $7.39 million acquisition of Catbang 926, the $4.36 million acquisition of Carroll Insurance Group by PSC Insurance Group, and Seedrs’ venture financing of Pluto Services for $0.73 million.
