The Ardonagh Group is set to acquire Porto, Portugal-based insurance broker and risk management advisor, MDS Group, through a combination of equity and debt via Ardonagh Overseas Investments Ltd and operate as part of Ardonagh Global Partners.
As well as its headquarters in Porto, MDS has offices in Brazil, where it is the country’s largest insurance broker, and also in Angola, Mozambique, Spain, and Malta.
The company serves the Portuguese-speaking world and Europe and is actually the only Portuguese Lloyd’s broker.
Currently, MDS employs 900 colleagues and recorded revenue of €74.8 million in the 12 months to June 30th, 2021. The broker manages more than €500 million in insurance premiums for 1.2 million private and corporate clients each year.
Complimenting its core broking operations of property & casualty, health, retail and wholesale, MDS operates Highdome PCC in Malta, which offers sophisticated alternative solutions to the traditional insurance market including captive and reinsurance solutions to large clients.
The firm’s offering is completed by Risk Consulting Group (RCG), a multinational risk management consultancy.
Additionally, MDS is the founding member and a shareholder of Brokerslink, a network of brokers and speciality risk and consulting firms.
Once the deal is finalised, Ardonagh Global Partners, which was launched in June 2021 to invest in best-in-class businesses and management teams, will acquire 100% of the issued shares of MDS from Sonae Group and IPLF Holding.
The current management team, led by MDS Group Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) José Manuel Fonseca, will stay with the business and continue to lead an expansive growth plan in all of the MDS territories.
Fonseca commented: “Having considered our future very carefully, we saw in The Ardonagh Group and its leadership a perfect match for our vision and growth ambitions. We are incredibly excited to be joining forces with a global independent group with Ardonagh’s scale and dynamic culture.
“With access to Ardonagh’s considerable resource and capital, we look forward to accelerating our organic and inorganic growth plans.”
Ardonagh Global Partners CEO, Des O’Connor, said: “It is a great privilege to partner with a distinguished and high-profile broking platform such as MDS. Jose Manuel together with his experienced and high calibre management team have developed a world class reputation for client service, innovation and professionalism, delivering outstanding service to their clients for over 30 years.
“MDS intends to continue taking full advantage of the fast growing and evolving Portuguese and Brazilian insurance markets and economies. The business is ideally placed to support a broad range of clients to protect against a constantly changing risk environment, and to bring on board other culturally and strategically aligned independent brokers in the geographies in which it operates.”
David Ross, CEO of Ardonagh Group, added: “We launched Ardonagh Global Partners at the start of the year to offer a home for businesses and management teams across the globe which want to plug into our commercial capabilities and resources, whilst maintaining the client service and culture that made them successful in the first place.
“We welcome José Manuel Fonseca and his global colleagues as an embodiment of just that and look forward to helping bring more products, connectivity and buying power to their clients.”
