Maiden transfers Scandinavian renewal rights to AmTrust

Bermuda-based Maiden Holdings has agreed to transfer the renewal rights for its primary general and life insurance written in Scandinavia to a unit of AmTrust Financial Services. 

Maiden said it also anticipates entering into additional renewal rights agreements with other AmTrust entities for business written by Maiden in the UK and Ireland.

Maiden said that under the agreements, renewals will be offered to to select policyholders in exchange for a fee at standard market terms for business successfully renewed.

Maiden said the transactions were part of a broader plan to divest its International Insurance Services businesses stemming from its recently concluded and previously reported strategic review of its IIS business platform. 

"As part of these conclusions, Maiden expects to enter into additional transactions to either sell or wind-up Maiden GF and Maiden LF during 2024 and is actively evaluating potential transactions currently," the company said. 

Patrick J. Haveron, Maiden’s Chief Executive Officer commented: “Our IIS unit had made considerable strides in growing the premium produced by the business. However, the business is not at scale for Maiden, and we concluded that the prospects to achieve an acceptable return were ultimately challenging and limited. Our agreements today with AmTrust were entered into after an extensive market clearing process that sought to divest the business either as a whole, or in a series of transactions. 

"We concluded this path will ultimately preserve the greatest amount of capital previously committed to the business which we can reallocate to other initiatives with greater return prospect while retaining options to enter into additional transactions currently under evaluation. 

"When we ultimately divest these subsidiaries and the entirety of the business, we expect our Group operating expenses to be reduced by up to $6 million annually. We will report further on these transactions as we finalize and complete them.”

Axel Wibom, Chief Executive Officer, AmTrust Nordics AB, commented: “AmTrust Nordics is excited by the prospect of working with Maiden’s exceptional distribution partners and the possibility of offering an alternative insurance solution to Maiden policyholders. We are focused on empowering our distribution partners with solutions that provide significant value to their customers and look forward to adding this business to our market-leading Nordics franchise.”

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