Mosaic launches London-based transaction liability team

Mosaic Insurance has launched a transactional liability team in the UK. Sam Whiteman and Andrew Gofton-Salmond join in London, establishing its international transactional liability platform, with plans for further growth in coming months, according to the company.

Whiteman will lead the team and joins as senior vice president from Liberty Mutual, where he was head of London and emerging markets for Liberty Global Transaction Solutions. Before that, he was an underwriter for Ironshore’s Pembroke Managing Agency. Gofton-Salmond joins as vice president and manager for transactional liability. He was a senior underwriter with AIG, focused on providing insurance for M & M&A deals across the UK, Europe, and emerging markets.

The launch of the UK team responds to the record pace and volume of deal activity in the global market, according to Mosaic and follows a rapid buildout of the business line by the insurer. In April, it hired William Monat as global head of transactional liability, followed by Stavan Desai in May as North American team leader and Katherine Spenner as chief legal officer for transactional liability.

Mosaic began underwriting M&A coverage in July, including representations and warranties insurance (RWI) and other transactional risk products. Since then, its US-based M&A team has expanded to a total of 16 specialists, mostly based in New York, including global head of tax JT Hutchens.

“This is an important juncture in Mosaic’s development as we approach the end of our first calendar year,” said co-CEO Mark Wheeler. “Transactional liability is a core focus of our model and growth strategy, and a product line we expect to grow exponentially, in North America and beyond. The fast-paced development of our M&A platform, first in the US and now ramping up in London, serves the rising needs of clients in an unprecedented environment.”

Monat added: “We’re thrilled to welcome Sam and Andrew to join the incredibly talented group of experts we’ve been building over recent months, and the timing couldn’t be better. Economic conditions are driving heavy deal volume and value, and insurance coverage has become vital to help buyers and sellers achieve timely closures. To meet that robust demand with specialized underwriting, we plan to add another dozen specialists by the end of next year.”