Brit is an international general insurance and reinsurance group specialising in commercial insurance. It was acquired by Fairfax Financial in May 2015.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
Key people | Richard Ward, (Chairman), Martin Thompson,(Group Chief Executive Officer) |
| Products | Insurance, Reinsurance |
| Revenue | £1,070.5 million (2014)[1] |
| £162.6 million (2014)[1] | |
| £139.0 million (2014)[1] | |
| Parent | Fairfax Financial |
| Website | www.britinsurance.com |
History
editThe Company was founded as Benfield & Rea Investment Trust in 1995.[2] In 1996 it acquired Stewart Syndicates Limited and in 1999 it went on to buy Wren PLC.[2] In 1999 it ceased to be an investment trust and relisted as Brit Insurance Holdings PLC.[2]
Achilles Netherlands Holdings B.V., a company formed by funds managed by private equity firms Apollo Management and CVC Capital Partners, agreed to acquire the firm for £888 million in October 2010.[3] Its offer was declared unconditional in March 2011 and following this Brit Insurance was removed from the FTSE 250 Index.[4]
On 18 June 2012 Brit announced the sale of its subsidiary Brit Insurance Limited (BIL) to RiverStone Group.[5] The company was subject to an initial public offering in March 2014.[6]
The company was acquired by Fairfax Financial in May 2015.[7]
Operations
editBrit has a diversified portfolio of businesses both in terms of geographic location and types of business. Business is written through Lloyd's Syndicate 2987.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Annual Report 2014". Brit. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ a b c Brit Insurance History
- ^ Davies, Paul J. (25 October 2010). "Brit Insurance agrees sale to CVC and Apollo". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ "Brit Insurance Holdings PLC (UK): Offer by Achilles Netherlands Holdings N.V. (Non-Constituent) Declared Wholly Unconditional – Changes In FTSE Indices". FTSE Group. 9 March 2011. Archived from the original on 14 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Brit sells to RiverStone". Insurance Age. 18 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ "Apollo, CVC Raise $398.5 Million in Brit Insurance IPO". Insurance Journal. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ "Brit Insurance agrees to £1.22bn takeover by Canadian rival". The Telegraph. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.