UK's PIB Group acquires Cobra group of companies

UK-based insurance intermediary PIB Group has acquired the Cobra group of companies, taking the amount of premium placed or influenced by PIB from £550 million to £900 million.

Cobra is a network-centric proposition to independent insurance intermediaries and provides a wide range of services through its four main operating platforms: Cobra Network, Cobra Underwriting Agencies, Cobra London Markets and Cobra Insurance Brokers.

The PIB Group offers a range of specialist products and services throughout the UK, Channel Islands and Ireland.

This is PIB’s 20th investment since 2016 and follows on from its acquisition of Optis Insurances in Ireland earlier this year.

Brendan McManus, CEO for PIB, said: “I’m delighted that PIB has the opportunity to invest in the next stage of COBRA’s development and ambitious growth plans. Collectively and individually, all businesses within COBRA have established strong reputations and leveraged strong margins from insurers. This is another exciting milestone which brings additional scale and new complementary capabilities across several of our existing propositions. We plan to invest in all areas of the group.”

“We will be investing in all areas of Cobra and see many fantastic opportunities to collaborate," McManus added. "The products provided by Cobra Underwriting Agencies for example are very complementary to ours, and we look forward to working with them in developing their proposition and product range

“At the same time, Cobra Network will remain independent. We will focus on investing in the expansion of their proposition and make all our resources available to Cobra members to help with development plans.”

Steve Burrows, CEO for Cobra, commented: “I am very pleased that PIB has chosen to acquire and invest in the Cobra group. Established in 2003, Cobra Network was the first Cobra company and, since then, we have successfully built a dynamic insurance group that includes a strong, well-established Lloyd’s brokerage, a growing retail operation and a service-driven MGA, all of which have built loyal and profitable customer bases.

"The investment planned by PIB creates an exciting opportunity for us to strengthen and further develop our businesses in line with our plans.”

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