Acquisition

RNS Number : 7420W

Helios Underwriting Plc

13 December 2019

 

Helios Underwriting plc

LEI 213800FX86DJW5TCM864

("Helios" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Catbang 926 Limited

Helios is pleased to announce that, in line with its strategy of increasing underwriting capacity through acquisition, it has acquired Lloyd's Member Catbang 926 Limited (Catbang), a limited liability member of Lloyd's of London ("Lloyd's").  The consideration payable for Catbang is £5.6 million in cash of which £2m will be paid on completion and the balance paid within 60 days of completion.

Information in respect of Catbang

The 2019 underwriting capacity of Catbang is £4.1m. Catbang participates in a spread of Lloyd's syndicates that broadly matches the existing portfolio of Helios and this transaction enables Helios to continue to build its participations on the better syndicates at Lloyd's.

The consideration represents a discount of approximately 16% to the independent valuation of £6.7m placed on Catbang by Humphrey's and is approximately £0.6m below the fair value of assets being acquired.

The capacity acquired, together with the capacity Helios expects to retain, is as follows:

Catbang	Year of Account
	2017	2018	2019	2020
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Retained	4.1	4.1	4.1	1.4
Reinsured	-	-	-	3.3
Total Capacity	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.7

Helios will reinsure 70% of 2020 underwriting year in line with its stated policy of reducing 'on-risk' exposures.

In addition to the Catbang transaction, Helios is continuing to pursue a number of further Lloyd's LLV acquisitions in line with its strategy.

Additional information

Catbang is a limited liability member of Lloyd's. In the year ended 31 December 2018, Catbang made a profit before tax of £0.2m on gross premiums written of £3.6m.   Syndicate capacity with an estimated market value of £1.3m has been included in the transaction.

 This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) NO 596/2014.

For further information, please contact:

Helios Underwriting plc

Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive                                                             07787 530 404

Arthur Manners - Chief Financial Officer                                              07754 965 917

Shore Capital Limited

Robert Finlay                                                                                              020 7408 4090

David Coaten

About Helios

Helios provides a limited liability direct investment into the Lloyd's insurance market and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market (ticker: HUW). Helios trades within the Lloyd's insurance market writing approximately £60m of capacity for the 2019 account. The portfolio provides a good spread of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance. For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.

 

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