Aspen appoints former Brit exec as new CEO as Apollo deal closes

Apollo Global Management has now completed its previously announced acquisition of Aspen Insurance Holdings, and concurrently appointed a new CEO to succeed Chris O'Kane.

Mark Cloutier, former executive chairman of Brit, has been appointed as group CEO and executive chairman at Aspen.

O'Kane has been with Aspen since its inception in 2002. He will be stepping down from his role with immediate effect, along with chairman Glyn Jones and other Aspen board directors Albert Beer, Matthew Botein, Gary Gregg, Heidi Hutter, Karl Mayr, Bret Pearlman and Ron Pressman.

“Seventeen years ago, with 38 colleagues, $600 million of assets and a vision, we formed Aspen," said O'Kane. "As a result of hard work, determination and an unwavering dedication to our clients, Aspen is now a force in the reinsurance and insurance markets with over $12 billion of assets and around 1,150 employees."

Apollo Funds has acquired all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Aspen for $42.75 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $2.6 billion. Aspen’s ordinary shares have ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Alex Humphreys, partner at Apollo, commented: “We are excited for our funds to be acquiring Aspen as it embarks on the next chapter of its development. We are delighted to be working with Mark again following our successful investment together in Brit Insurance. Mark has a long and successful track-record in the insurance sector and we believe he is ideally placed to lead Aspen through a period of transition to substantially improved profitability. We look forward to working with him and Aspen’s talented management team to drive value creation over the coming years.”