White Mountains sells NSM for $1.8b

White Mountains Insurance Group has signed a definitive agreement to sell NSM Insurance Group, its managing general agent (MGA) subsidiary, to investment funds affiliated with global investment firm Carlyle. The transaction values NSM at $1.775 billion.

White Mountains expects the transaction will result in a gain of about $280 to its adjusted book value per share and will increase undeployed capital from around $0.4 billion to $1.7 billion.

"The NSM team has done a tremendous job building a market-leading specialty insurance distribution platform. It has been our pleasure to partner with them along the way," said Manning Rountree, chief executive officer of White Mountains.

Geof McKernan, CEO of NSM, added: "Together, we achieved strong organic growth, completed six strategic acquisitions, added high quality talent and built a specialised, diversified and scaled insurance distribution platform. We could not be happier with this outcome and are excited to partner with Carlyle as we embark on NSM's next stage of growth."

"Leveraging Carlyle's deep experience supporting companies in the insurance services sector, we are thrilled to partner with NSM's exceptional founder-led management team to help the business execute numerous upside growth drivers, including continued operational improvement, accretive M&A opportunities, and strategic investments in technology and data & analytics," said John Redett, head of global financial services at Carlyle.

The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2022. The closing is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.