View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2014/03/28/324666.htm
Apollo Global Management LLC and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. raised £240 million [$398.5 million] in an initial public offering of Brit Plc, a Lloyd’s of London insurer.
The two private equity firms, along with Brit’s managers, sold 100 million shares for 240 pence [$3.99] apiece, toward the bottom of the 230 pence [$3.82] to 275 pence [$4.57] range initially used to canvas investor interest in the stock. The IPO values the insurer at about £960 million [$1.595 billion], the company said in a statement today.
Brit joins companies including fund Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc and retailer Poundland Group Plc in selling shares in London this year. About $7.6 billion [£4.574 billion] has been raised so far this year, more than twice the amount sold in the same period in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Lloyd’s insurer, which specializes in property, casualty and energy, was bought by Apollo and CVC for about £888 million [$1.4576 billion] in 2011. The company sold some regional U.K. units and appointed ex-Lloyd’s CEO Richard Ward non-executive chairman, a month before announcing its plans to go public.
The stock climbed 1.3 percent to 243 pence [$4.038] as of 8:04 a.m. in London trading.
JPMorgan Cazenove and UBS AG are managing the offering, along with Canaccord Genuity Ltd. and Numis Securities Ltd.
–With assistance from Gavin Finch in London