Lloyd's insurer Apollo partners with Pelican and JC Flowers on property cat-focused SPA

Apollo Syndicate Management has agreed an operational partnership with Jim Stanard and Rod Fox’s investment firm Pelican Ventures and private equity firm JC Flowers to support a property catastrophe focused Lloyd's SPA. The news comes on the same day the investment firms agreed to  acquire Argo-owned reinsurance business Ariel Re.

Under the partnership, Pelican and JC Flowers will provide additional capital, operational support and distribution to Apollo-managed Lloyd’s special purpose arrangement (SPA) 6133, which was launched in 2018 with a stamp capacity of £35 million.

Stamp capacity for 2021 will be £65 million, Apollo said. The partnership will enable SPA 6133 to efficiently capitalise on the significantly improved rating environment.

Ariel Re’s former chief executive Ryan Mather, who is returning to run the business, will also oversee underwriting for Apollo SPA 6133.

The transaction is expected to be finalised in the fourth quarter of 2020.

David Ibeson, group chief executive of Apollo, said: “There is a significant opportunity in the property catastrophe reinsurance market as rates increase and demand grows and we are pleased that Pelican and J. C. Flowers are supporting our future plans. Both our businesses stand to benefit from this partnership as we look to deliver market-beating returns to our stakeholders and market-leading service to our clients.

"SPA 6133’s team of reinsurance experts will gain Pelican’s extensive distribution networks and cutting-edge technological and analytical underwriting support. We look forward to further collaboration with such outstanding industry leaders to build on the excellent work of SPA 6133’s team.”

Mather commented: “Pairing Ariel Re with SPA 6133 will create significant growth and economies of scale for our franchise, allowing us to be more efficient for our capital providers and effective to our clients. We will continue to work closely with our clients and business partners to offer solutions in these challenging markets.”