Global brokerage and financial technology company, BGC Partners, Inc., has completed the previously announced sale of its Insurance Brokerage division to The Ardonagh Group.
As we wrote in May, BGC’s insurance brokerage businesses will now join the Ardonagh Specialty platform.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Ardonagh has acquired the equity of the entities that comprised BGC’s insurance brokerage arm for around $535 million in gross proceeds, subject to limited post-closing adjustments.
The one-time gain associated with the transaction will be reflected in BGC’s consolidated results under U.S. GAAP but will be excluded from its results for adjusted earnings.
Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BGC, commented: “We are pleased to have completed the sale of our Insurance Brokerage business to Ardonagh which delivers enormous value for our shareholders.
“The approximately $535 million in gross proceeds provides us with significant resources to continue repurchasing our shares and/or units and to accelerate Fenics growth.”
Besso Insurance, Ed Broking, and Piiq Risk Partners will join Bishopsgate, Compass London Markets, Inver Re and Price Forbes within the Ardonagh Specialty and Capital platform.
According to Ardonagh, this will create the largest independent specialty broker in the London markets with offices around the globe.
The Ardonagh Specialty and Capital division now has a combined revenue of $450 million, placing more than $5 billion in gross written premiums (GWP) on behalf of clients with offices in France, Germany, Turkey, the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Brazil, the USA, and Bermuda.
Furthermore, with the additions of the Ardonagh Advisory, Ardonagh Retail, and the Ardonagh International platforms, the Group now places $13 billion in GWP and has $1.4 billion annual revenue.
The Ardonagh Specialty leadership team is comprised of James Masterton as Chairman of Specialty Broking and Andrew Wallin as CEO of Specialty Broking alongside Steve Hearn as CEO of Reinsurance and Capital, and Antony Erotocritou as CFO.
“I am especially excited to welcome approaching 900 new colleagues to Ardonagh Specialty. We have known and admired many of them for years. Together we now have a unique opportunity to build a preferred home for talent and the number one choice for clients on a truly global scale,” said Masterton.
Hearn added: “I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to lead Inver Re and grow Ardonagh’s Capital Solutions business. With the scale and backing of the Group and its investment in data science, we have the opportunity to become a top 5 global reinsurance broker and provide a credible independent choice for clients.”
Wallin said: “The businesses within Ardonagh Specialty are known for delivering high calibre solutions to blue chip clients and the brands joining today are a great addition to that family and the wider Ardonagh Group. The combined scale of our platform allows us to invest even deeper in our talent, our focus on technological development and our actuarial and analytical capabilities to benefit all our brands, delivering a powerful combination of scale, placement expertise and a personal service, all in support for our clients.”
