Ardonagh buys Swinton Group for £165m from Covéa

UK insurance intermediary Ardonagh Group is acquiring broker Swinton Group from its French parent Covéa Group for a consideration of approximately £165 million.

Ardonagh intends to fund the purchase price with financing from its existing bank group, along with cash from monetizing certain Swinton assets.

Swinton is a UK-based personal lines broker, with a focus on motor and home insurance, and on specialist lines including caravan, motorhome and motorbike. In the year ending Dec. 31, 2017, Swinton reported turnover of £168 million, in excess of one million customers and 1.6 million live policies.

“Swinton is a hugely complementary, highly accretive acquisition, enabling us to occupy a significant space in personal lines broking,” said Ardonagh CEO David Ross. "The opportunity to share expertise in the development of our digital platforms to accelerate the scale and scope of our offerings is clear to see,” Ross added.

Pierre Michel, managing director of reinsurance and international operations at Covéa group commented: “Over the last few years, Swinton and its executive team have transformed and repositioned the business and now is the right time for it to move into new ownership. Swinton will become part of a growing and innovative UK insurance brokerage group, and I am confident that being part of The Ardonagh Group will provide Swinton with a great platform from which to deliver significant benefits to all its stakeholders, including its customers and employees.”

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