Ryan Specialty agrees to buy certain assets of Ardonagh’s Geo Underwriting Europe

Ryan Specialty, the Chicago-based international specialty insurance firm, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets of European general managing agent Geo Underwriting Europe BV (Geo Europe), part of the London-based Ardonagh Group.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

(In a separate deal, Ryan announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the property and casualty MGUs owned by Ethos Specialty Insurance, part of the Ascot Group. See related article).

Geo Europe is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with operations in Germany and specializes in financial lines. Geo Europe will join the Ryan Financial Lines (RFL) unit of Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers division of Ryan Specialty, complementing RFL’s European expansion goals. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

Geo Europe’s core portfolio comprises mainly specialist mid-sized companies and large global corporations across the European Union, underwritten by insurance agents with experience in professional indemnity, management liability and cyber.

Walter Craft will be appointed Managing Director of Ryan Financial Lines – Benelux and DACH and will join the Executive Committee of Ryan Financial Lines.

“Ryan Specialty is the right platform for Geo Europe to further strengthen its offerings and enable our team members to truly excel. Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers analytical support and administrative and distribution capabilities align well for the next step of our journey as we continue to focus on providing the best solutions and services to our clients,” commented Walter Craft, Managing Director and Director of subscription. for Geo Europe.

“We are grateful to the Ardonagh Group for supporting the launch of Geo Europe in 2019 and are very excited about the next step of joining Ryan Financial Lines and the wider Ryan Specialty family,” added Craft.

TOPICS
Mergers and acquisitions Excess Surplus Europe Underwriting