UK Broker Ardonagh to Acquire Portugal’s MDS Group

UK broker Ardonagh Group announced it has agreed to acquire Portuguese broker MDS Group.

Headquartered in Porto, MDS has offices in Brazil, where it is the country’s largest independent broker, as well as Angola, Mozambique, Spain, and Malta. It is the only Portuguese Lloyd’s Broker.

MDS employs 900 colleagues and recorded revenue of €74.8 million (US$84.6 million) in the 12 months to June 30, 2021. MDS manages over €500 million (US$565.3 million) in insurance premiums for 1.2 million private and corporate clients each year.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Ardonagh said it intends to fund the acquisition with a combination of equity and debt. MDS will be acquired by Ardonagh Overseas Investments Ltd. and operate as part of Ardonagh Global Partners.

In addition to its core broking operations, spanning property/casualty, health, retail and wholesale, MDS operates Highdome PCC in Malta, offering sophisticated alternative solutions to the traditional insurance market including captive and reinsurance solutions to large clients. Completing MDS’ offering is Risk Consulting Group (RCG), a multinational risk management consultancy.

MDS is also the founding member and a shareholder of Brokerslink, a network of brokers and specialty risk and consulting firms operating in 122 countries.

Upon completion, Ardonagh Global Partners will acquire 100% of the issued shares of MDS from its two shareholders, Sonae Group and IPLF Holding. The management team led by MDS Group Global CEO José Manuel Fonseca will remain with the business and continue to lead an expansive growth plan in all of the MDS territories.

“Having considered our future very carefully, we saw in The Ardonagh Group and its leadership a perfect match for our vision and growth ambitions. We are incredibly excited to be joining forces with a global independent group with Ardonagh’s scale and dynamic culture,” commented Manuel Fonseca. “With access to Ardonagh’s considerable resource and capital, we look forward to accelerating our organic and inorganic growth plans.”

Ardonagh Global Partners was launched in January 2021 to invest in best-in-class businesses and management teams around the world and in turn support their growth ambitions.

“It is a great privilege to partner with a distinguished and high-profile broking platform such as MDS. Jose Manuel together with his experienced and high caliber management team have developed a world class reputation for client service, innovation and professionalism, delivering outstanding service to their clients for over 30 years,” said Ardonagh Global Partners CEO Des O’Connor.

“MDS intends to continue taking full advantage of the fast growing and evolving Portuguese and Brazilian insurance markets and economies. The business is ideally placed to support a broad range of clients to protect against a constantly changing risk environment, and to bring on board other culturally and strategically aligned independent brokers in the geographies in which it operates,” O’Connor added.

“We launched Ardonagh Global Partners at the start of the year to offer a home for businesses and management teams across the globe which want to plug into our commercial capabilities and resources, whilst maintaining the client service and culture that made them successful in the first place,” said Ardonagh Group CEO David Ross. “We welcome José Manuel Fonseca and his global colleagues as an embodiment of just that and look forward to helping bring more products, connectivity and buying power to their clients.”

Completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.

Source: Ardonagh Group

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies