Funds advised by private equity firm Apax Partners has agreed to buy UK-based independent insurance intermediary PIB Group for an undisclosed sum.
Under the agreement, funds advised by PIB’s existing backer The Carlyle Group will reinvest in order to take a minority holding in the business.
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PIB’s executive management team, headed by CEO Brendan McManus and CFO Ryan Brown, will retain leadership of the firm.
Established in 2015, PIB is a diversified insurance distribution consolidator with focus on specialist commercial lines and non-standard personal lines products. It also specialises in both direct and B2B distribution through its broking, underwriting and network divisions.
PIB Group noted that its income has grown from nil to nearly £175m on a pro-forma basis last year.
The company has over 2,000 employees in the UK, Channel Islands, Ireland, Germany, Poland and India.
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By GlobalDataThe acquisition will enable PIB to continue its growth trajectory, both organically and through speeding up strategic M&A for its domestic and international expansion.
Commenting on the deal, McManus said: “With further investment and the significant experience that Apax will offer, we look forward to continuing our ambitious growth plans both in the UK and internationally while putting our customers and colleagues at the forefront of everything that we do. We look forward to our continued success with both Apax and Carlyle as partners.”
The Apax Funds specialises in investing in the insurance sector to help companies consolidate large, fragmented markets.
Apax Partners partner Ashish Karandikar said: “We see a strong investment case for the specialist commercial insurance broking market and PIB stood out as a leading player in this space.
“The company has grown at an impressive rate, has an excellent track record of accretive M&A deals, including international acquisitions into fragmented markets and holds a leading position as one of the largest independent corporate brokers in the UK.”
Recently, PIB took over Barbon Insurance Group, WDB in Poland and Marx Re-Insurance in Germany.
In November last year, the group snapped up Erskine Murray Insurance Brokers, a Leicester-based business that was established as an independent commercial lines broker.
