Enstar agrees to sell StarStone Underwriting to Inigo

Enstar Group and Stone Point Capital have signed definitive agreements to sell StarStone Underwriting, the Lloyd’s managing agency, to Inigo, together with the right to operate Lloyd’s Syndicate 1301.

Enstar, Stone Point and Dowling Capital will receive $30 million of consideration from the sale of StarStone, in the form of Inigo shares, upon closing. They retain the economics of Syndicate 1301’s 2020 and prior years’ underwriting portfolios as this business runs off.

Enstar and Stone Point have also committed to invest up to $27 million and $18 million, respectively, into Inigo, a new specialty re/insurance holding company led by founders Richard Watson, Russell Merrett and Stuart Bridges.

Inigo will operate as a Lloyd’s specialty insurer writing a streamlined portfolio of re/insurance risks, receiving transitional services and staff from Enstar.

The Inigo investment is expected to close in late 2020 and the StarStone sale is expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary conditions.

Dominic Silvester, Enstar’s chief executive officer, said: “This transaction optimises and capitalises on StarStone International’s assets at Lloyd’s and provides an opportunity to participate in a new venture with proven leadership at a time of favourable market conditions.”

The StarStone sale follows the previously announced decision to place its international business into an orderly run-off and review strategic alternatives for the business.

Enstar and Stone Point recently agreed to a renewal rights transaction for StarStone’s European financial lines business, as well as the sale of Belgian-based underwriting agent Vander Haeghen, part of the StarStone International Group.