Fusion expands to ‘undertapped’ London M&A market poaching Aviva leaders

Fusion Specialty, a M&A and financial lines insurance specialist focussed on small and mid-size (SME) businesses, has expanded its global mergers and acquisitions insurance footprint with senior industry hires for launch in the “underserved and undertapped” London market.

The company has launched  Fusion Specialty UK, offering new solutions for M&A insurance in the UK, spearheaded by managing partner Josh Cowen (pictured, right) and partner Samuel Shirley (pictured, left).

Fusion believes the UK SME market has been “historically underserved” and plans to bring a “first of its kind” M&A insurance online (Mio) solution to the market, along with a technology driven and enabled warranties & indemnities (W&I) and broader M&A insurance offering that are designed specifically for (lower) mid-market M&A transactions, offering deal appropriate, specialist coverage and pricing, together with streamlined processes.

The new offering is provided by first class security, including Markel International Insurance Company, and insurance cover delivered over the io.insure insurtech platform.

Fusion Specialty UK plans to soon announce its trading entry into the (lower) mid-market W&I, contingent risks and excess tax liability markets, followed by SME financial lines, enabled by the io.insure data & technology platform.

The company has hired Josh Cowen as  Fusion Speciality UK managing partner. He joins from Aviva, where he having previously built an expansive M&A proposition and team from the start as head of M&A underwriting at Aviva. Prior to that, Cowen began his M&A insurance career at AIG eventually leading its M&A insurance UK private equity team, having previously gained M&A and corporate legal expertise as a solicitor at Macfarlanes.

Samuel Shirley joins  Fusion Speciality UK as partner. He also comes from Aviva where, as a senior underwriter and alongside Cowen, he built the M&A business and its transactional risk portfolio. Prior to that, he worked in Arch’s warranty & indemnity team following roles at Deutsche Bank as transaction structurer and manager and Travers Smith and Osborne Clarke as M&A and corporate associate.

Cowen said: “2021 was the most consistently buoyant year for M&A activity that the global M&A insurance market has experienced for some time. Whilst we cannot expect quite the same level to be sustained into 2022, we do expect activity to remain strong, particularly into the last quarter of the year as dealmakers take the summer to prepare sale processes for year-end completions. What we have seen in this time is the start of some polarisation of deal values brought to the M&A insurance market. The mid-market has remained active but the numbers of SME - lower mid-market (< £250m) and the large-mega deals (£500m+) looking for M&A insurance cover have significantly grown over the past 2-3 years. With this, and the number of M&A insurance carriers in the London market, there is and must be some natural segmentation in specialist offerings.”

Shirley added: “We see the SME – lower mid-market sector as underserved and under-tapped by the traditional M&A insurance approach and we are incredibly excited to join  Fusion Specialty as we take the opportunity to develop and supply innovative and disruptive solutions for the sector, backed by both technology and leading underwriting expertise.”

Cowen concluded: “With technology and true innovation at the centre of its DNA,  Fusion Specialty is pioneering a more efficient M&A market for the small to mid-size corporate transactions and I look forward to developing our London offering to  Fusion Specialty’s unparalleled global reach for both M&A and Financial Lines.”

David Rogers and Killian McDermott, co-founders and executive partners of  Fusion Specialty said: “Building on the momentum of our launch in the US and our reputation as the leading small to mid-size M&A transactions insurer in Asia Pacific, our entrance into the London market marks an important step in  Fusion Specialty’s growth and global ambition.  Fusion is now the first global M&A MGA, with a local presence to serve the M&A eco-system in each key M&A region. There is currently limited access to fit for purpose insurance products offering bespoke levels of cover at an affordable rate, but through harnessing our world-first digitally enabled solutions and by welcoming the expertise and experience of leading underwriters such as Josh and Sam in the London M&A Market, we are creating the next phase in M&A insurance, as we address the protection gap and resolve the inefficiencies still hampering insureds, their brokers, and advisors.”

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