Premia Announces Acquisition Of Armour
Premia Holdings Ltd. announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Armour Re Ltd., a Bermuda-based P&C legacy reinsurer and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Armour Group Ltd., an Aquiline Capital Partners LLC portfolio company, in an all-share transaction.
“In conjunction with the acquisition, an Aquiline-led investor group is making a growth equity investment in Premia. Between the equity raise and the sidecar raised at the end of 2020, Premia has significant fresh capital to execute on opportunities in the fast-growing legacy market,” the company said.
Bill O’Farrell, Chief Executive Officer of Premia, said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Armour and Aquiline. We believe this transaction is a major milestone for Premia to further consolidate its position as a leading legacy P&C reinsurer.
:The Armour acquisition accelerates the build out of our US and European operations. Premia is also excited to be partnering with Aquiline, one of the pre-eminent investors in the insurance sector. We look forward to welcoming the staff and our new shareholder into the Premia family”.
Chris Collins, Managing Director of Kelso & Company, Premia’s majority shareholder, said: “Bill O’Farrell and team have built Premia into a differentiated, industry leading run-off reinsurer since we founded the company with Arch and management in 2017.”The Armour transaction is highly strategic in enhancing Premia’s capabilities and providing additional capital to accelerate growth. Premia is well-positioned to capitalize on the attractive opportunity in the P&C run-off market, and we are excited to continue to support Bill and the Premia team while welcoming a new shareholder in Aquiline.”
Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Aquiline, said: “We are excited to partner with Bill and the Premia team, who we believe are best-in-class in the P&C legacy market. We are also excited to partner with Kelso and Arch who are well respected insurance industry investors. Our decision to invest in Premia reflects our belief that the P&C legacy sector will continue to be highly attractive.”
“Premia will acquire Armour in a two-part transaction. Initially, Armour will transfer certain service contracts and staff members to Premia. Premia will then acquire 100% of Armour Re Ltd. in exchange for Premia shares,” the company noted.
