SAGICOR BUYS GERLING AT LLOYD’S FOR REPORTED £2.5M

Barbados-based life assurer Sagicor Financia has bought the Gerling at Lloyd’s operation from Germany-based insurance holding group Talanx, for a price reported to be in the region of £2.5m. The deal includes the managing agency, syndicate 1206 and its service company. Syndicate 1206, which specialises in short-tail lines, currently has a capacity of £60.25m. Chris Hitchings of Investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said that “given the shape of the parent company, it was not perhaps the kind of property that appealed to the conventional buyer”. CEO Geoff Halpin and his management team will remain with Gerling at Lloyd’s. Sagicor CEO Dodridge Miller said that “this is our first acquisition in Europe since obtaining a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and this extends our operating base to the important London market”. Gerling at Lloyd’s was formed in 1999 when the then-independent Gerling bought Owen & Wilby. Gerling in turn was bought by Talanx in late 2005.