Onex Partners Completes Acquisition of R&Q’s Program Manager, Accredited

Accredited, the property/casualty program manager and subsidiary of R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd., announced the completion of its acquisition by Onex Partners, the Toronto-based private equity company.

The sale of the unit comes on the heels of R&Q’s decision on June 21 to file for liquidation in Bermuda, after facing months of growing financial difficulties.

Accredited will now operate as an independent program management company providing “A-” rated (AM Best) insurance capacity in Europe, the UK and the US. Accredited writes more than $2.1 billion of gross premium and partners with MGAs on over 70 programs.

R&Q had seen ongoing adverse loss development in its core legacy acquisition business, unexpected costs and expenses connected to the sale of Accredited, as well as the inability to consummate external legacy transactions – all of which put it into a weakened financial state.

R&Q’s original plan was to sell Accredited, use the cash to rebuild its capital and refocus on its core legacy business. However, the capital crunch had “a material impact on the company’s stability as a business and as a going concern,” according to R&Q on June 13. The decision ultimately was made to liquidate the company, which helped expedite the sale of Accredited.

The sale was first announced on Oct. 20, 2023 – for a purchase price of $465 million. A representative of Accredited confirmed that the transaction structure has changed but wouldn’t disclose specifics about whether there have been changes to the deal price.

“As an independent platform, [Accredited] will continue to partner with best-in-class MGAs and reinsurers, supported by our global scale, strong balance sheet and ‘A-‘ AM Best financial strength rating,” commented William Spiegel, CEO of Accredited, in a statement. “Our strategy remains unchanged; we will focus on supporting the growth of our MGA partners and delivering high quality, diversified business to our reinsurance partners.”

“Accredited has established itself as a leading program manager with a differentiated transatlantic footprint, a well-diversified and high-quality book of business, deep reinsurer relationships and robust underwriting and risk management protocols,” according to Adam Cobourn, managing director at Onex Partners.

“We look forward to partnering with Accredited’s management and employees to strengthen and grow the business. As an independent company, Accredited will be well positioned for responsible growth with a strong balance sheet and backing from Onex Partners,” Cobourn continued.

In addition to the sale of Accredited, R&Q announced on June 24 it had agreed to sell its UK-based legacy general acquisition subsidiary, Inceptum Insurance Co. Ltd., to Marco Capital Holdings Ltd., a Malta-based legacy acquisition group, for £11.25 million (US$14.2 million) in cash. Inclusive of the impact of the novation of the reinsurance arrangements, the transaction is expected to generate approximately £13 million (US$16.4 million) of liquidity for the company.

R&Q further announced on June 27 that joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) had been appointed in Bermuda to oversee the liquidation and ultimately wind up the company. Michael Morrison, Mark Allitt and Charles Thresh of Teneo (Bermuda) Ltd. were named JPLs of R&Q.

At the same time, Jeffrey Hayman, William Spiegel, Tom Solomon, Philip Barnes, Eamonn Flanagan, Jo Fox, Lawrence Hirsh, Jerome Lande and Robert Legett tendered their resignations as directors of R&Q.

Related:

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions

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