IQUW closes Agora acquisition to accelerate growth

29 Oct 2021 by Jonathan Watson

Property, Commercial and Speciality (re)insurer IQUW has today confirmed the acquisition of Agora Syndicate Holdings Ltd and its subsidiaries, the Group responsible for providing underwriting services to Agora, Lloyd’s syndicate 3268, subject to regulatory and Lloyd’s approval.

The acquisition sees Agora’s Property D&F and Reinsurance business become part of IQUW’s portfolio and the Agora team join the IQUW Property Insurance and Reinsurance teams headed by incoming Head of Property, Simon Jackson, and reinsurance CEO, Stephen Young, respectively.

The addition of Agora’s business will complement IQUW’s existing, Property Direct and Facultative, Treaty and Binder products and create one of Lloyd’s leading Property markets. The team will be led by the aforementioned Jackson and Young, plus Agora’s Michael Pritchard, who will spearhead the proposition and execute IQUW’s strategy to deliver a full-service Property proposition alongside its existing diverse portfolio of Commercial and Specialty lines.

IQUW Group Chief Executive Officer, Peter Bilsby commented: “We have made tremendous progress in the last year as we have continued to build out IQUW into a diverse, multi-line Specialty (re)insurer. I am delighted to have closed this acquisition, subject to approvals, and to welcome the Agora team to IQUW.

The opportunity for us to combine Agora’s business with IQUW’s significantly accelerates our growth strategy and allows us to take advantage of a hardening Property market at a strategically important time in the cycle. Additionally, we benefit by adding significant strength to the IQUW team and I am particularly excited to see our full-service Property proposition grow and become a lead market for brokers.”

Bilsby continued: “As we transform IQUW into a business that uses data and intelligent automation to enhance our decisions we remain acquisitive and continue to look for complementary businesses that can accelerate our growth through product diversification, talent acquisition or technology innovation.”

IQUW will work with Asta Managing Agency Limited, subject to Lloyd’s approval, to transfer the Managing Agency responsibilities in the coming months.

TigerRisk Capital Markets & Advisory acted as exclusive financial advisor to IQUW.