Pandemic Uncertainty Hasn’t Slowed Private Equity Investments in Insurance: S&P Global

Private equity and venture capital firms have been pouring capital into insurance companies despite the uncertainties about claims and losses from the pandemic, according to a new analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

PE-backed M&A in the sector globally reached $19.28 billion in disclosed value in the year to Aug. 20, already exceeding the full year 2020 total of $12.88 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

This year’s disclosed deal value is nearly double that of the $10.61 billion in 2019 and is the highest amount on record for at least a decade.

Global Insurance M&A Drops 3% in 1st Half of 2021: Clyde & Co. Report

According to the report, the five big public PE firms — Apollo, Blackstone, The Carlyle Group Inc., KKR & Co. Inc. and Ares Management Corp. — have all bought into insurance companies over the past two years.

On the venture capital front, insurance businesses attracted nearly $8.82 billion in global funding rounds in the year up to Aug. 6. Of that total, roughly $8.35 billion was raised during the first half and about $466.0 million has been secured since the beginning of the third quarter.

The largest deal has been Apollo Global Management Inc.’s planned merger with retirement services company Athene Holding Ltd. in deal suggesting a total equity value of roughly $11 billion for Athene.

Also among the largest was Blackstone’s agreement to buy Allstate Life Insurance Co. and other subsidiaries of Allstate Corp. for $3.05 billion.

One of the larger funding rounds completed to date has been Grand Rapids, Mich.-based insurance broker Acrisure LLC’s $3.45 billion capital raise from two transactions.

Another large round was German insurtech company wefox Germany GmbH, which raised $650 million in funding led by venture capital firm EDB Investments Pte. Ltd.

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence Report

Topics COVID-19