Howden Tiger creates ‘much-needed’ fourth global player
British insurer Howden Group Holdings has announced its acquisition of US reinsurance broker TigerRisk Partners, which it says “significantly enhances the scale and depth” of its reinsurance and capital markets offering, and creates the “much-needed fourth global player” in the reinsurance market.
Howden, which has over $2.3 billion in annual revenue, paid $1.6 billion for TigerRisk, according to Reuters. The new company, Howden Tiger, will be the fourth-biggest reinsurance broker, after those formed by Aon, Guy Carpenter and Willis Re.
TigerRisk, which has an office in Bermuda, said its senior management team will remain in place, including Rod Fox as executive chairman, Rob Bredahl as chief executive officer (CEO), and Tim Ronda as president.
In a joint statement, Fox and Bredahl stressed that TigerRisk will continue to be privately-owned, meaning that senior management will have no public market investors, equity analysts, and public company boards to serve, which will allow the senior management of Howden Tiger to focus on serving clients.
They added that employee ownership has been a “pillar” of TigerRisk since its inception, and that its employees will become “meaningful shareholders” in Howden Group Holdings.
The acquisition represents Howden’s continued investment in the US, focusing on MGA and reinsurance, to support its existing retail, wholesale and MGA clients and follows its recent move to enhance DUAL, its specialist general agency and underwriting management group in the US, through the purchase of Align Financial Holdings.
Howden RE’s global distribution network and complementary data-driven reinsurance expertise in international Specialty Treaty, Fac and the MGA sector will accelerate the growth potential of TigerRisk’s leading US focused reinsurance, capital markets, advisory and technology and analytics offering, Howden said.
The combination “enhances the credibility, relevance, scale and capability” of Howden’s offering across insurance, reinsurance, MGA and capital markets, it said, and further consolidates the group’s position as a global insurance intermediary, creating a $30 billion GWP business with an enterprise value of over $13 billion, and employing 12,000 people across 45 countries.
The partnership represents approaching $400 million of combined reinsurance revenues and provides clients with access to 450 experts in a business across more than 30 offices.
“TigerRisk has been the standout business and innovator in the reinsurance and capital markets space for many years and the decision to join forces with Howden is a unique opportunity and a game-changer for us and the industry,” David Howden, chief executive officer of Howden Group, said.
Fox added: “All I can say is ‘Wow!’ This combination is transformational–we will become the difference the market is looking for.”
The transaction–which is backed by Howden’s long-term investors, including General Atlantic, CDPQ and Hg–is subject to regulatory approvals.
