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Insurance M&A has been running hot for many years. Private equity continues to seek high quality intermediary and balance sheet assets, whilst corporates are restructuring their portfolios. High quality InsurTechs remain attractive targets.

On due diligence we differentiate ourselves through our highly structured, streamlined approach. Our observation is that diligence packs in the market have become longer without necessarily being more insightful: our aim is to offer robust yet concise analysis that allows our clients to take well-reasoned decisions.

For early-stage companies we have an accelerated approach, our InsurTech DD Framework, that allows venture investors to understand the business model of the business and its ability to execute quickly.

We have also supported clients with pre-deal M&A strategy work, manage transactions and execute post-transaction.

Executives value the perspective and operational support of an objective and challenging advisor with real insight into the industry and experience of the full transaction lifecycle.

Our expert teams are able to leverage the deep knowledge and experience of a sector-specialist business in their analysis and recommendations, including numerous tools such as our UK Motor Market Model, Magellan insurance technology navigator and insurance-specific frameworks and methodologies. Our clients often credit us with stretching their thinking.

WHAT WE DO IN M&A

Pre-deal and vendor due diligence

We support executive teams understand their M&A options and identify potential buyers or targets in a range of segments, capability areas and geographies

Due diligence

We help private equity and trade investors with commercial, operations, and technology due diligence; we believe our streamlined approach is differentiated in the market

Transaction management

We help management teams run buy-side and sell-side transactions with specialist operational support like data room and Q&A management, document production, model analysis

Post-deal

We help investors and executive teams with activities such as 100-day plans, post-merger integration, post-deal communication

OUR LATEST INSIGHTS

The Growth of Enhanced Underwriting in the Lloyd’s Market: The New Normal?

The Growth of Enhanced Underwriting in the Lloyd’s Market: The New Normal?

We’re excited to launch our report with the LMA on The Growth of Enhanced Underwriting in the Lloyd’s Market: The New Normal?

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Blueprint Two Foundational Playbook for Managing Agents: The Oxbow Partners View

Blueprint Two Foundational Playbook for Managing Agents: The Oxbow Partners View

In this article we share five observations on the Foundational Playbook, and our thoughts on what Managing Agents need to do next.

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Blueprint Two Foundational Playbook for Managing Agents: In a nutshell

Blueprint Two Foundational Playbook for Managing Agents: In a nutshell

The Oxbow Partners team has gone through the 92-slide guide and self-assessment questionnaire of the Foundational Playbook for managing agents, rand summarised it here for those short of time

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More insights

EXAMPLE ENGAGEMENTS

Supported diligence of a UK retail financial services platform

Our client is an acquisitive corporate. We were engaged to understand the business model of a fast-growing early-stage platform and its ability to be both a commercial partner to the investor and an attractive equity investment.

Supported investment in niche healthcare business

Our client is an established private equity investor. We were engaged to assess a target that provides a niche emerging markets health insurance product. Our mandate covered analysis of numerous emerging markets and analysis of the business’s growth potential in each looking at both market and internal factors.

Supported Tesco Bank’s strategic transformation

Tesco is one of the UK’s best-known brands. Tesco Bank originally entered the UK retail insurance market as a broker using a panel of carriers. After several years of successful trading, Tesco Bank asked itself how it could make its insurance proposition “more Tesco”. Oxbow Partners supported the business through this multi-year transformation. You can read a case study here.

Supported diligence of an APAC embedded insurance provider

Our client was an insurance investor who wanted to conduct a review of portfolio assets. We supported with an evaluation of the embedded warranty market in global ecommerce and provided an opinion on the company’s ability to execute its plan.

Supported Mercia on diligence of Broker Insights

Mercia Asset Management, a venture investor, asked us to evaluate Broker Insights, a next-generation insurance marketplace, for an investment. We helped them understand the business model, potential addressable market and path to scale.

Advised a private equity firm

Our client is a leading UK mid-market investor. We were engaged to provide commercial and technology due diligence on a technology-enabled UK distribution asset. Our team of experts applied Oxbow Partners’ structured approach to diligence and were able to support a successful investment.

Oxbow Partners work helping us understand the likely impacts of GIPP on the home insurance market was key to our investment decision.

Duncan Ramsay, Partner, ECI

RELEVANT PRODUCTS

Magellan

Magellan is our insurance technology navigator. Magellan contains detailed information on over 4,000 technology vendors targeting the global (re)insurance market. Magellan is designed to help business and technology professionals find the right short-list of companies to help with their specific technology requirements. We offer both a self-service subscription and a ‘Curated Search’ service delivered by our dedicated team of experts.
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UK Market Intelligence

Our UK Motor Market Model™ is a bottom-up forecast of the premium, combined ratio and operating profit in the market. Our model is updated regularly and provides Boards and management teams objective insight into the market allowing them to make better decisions about how to win.
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InsurTech DD Framework

Diligence of a growth company must reflect both its track record and also its vision and opportunity. Our streamlined analysis covers the market, proposition, financial plan and execution capability and is designed to quickly help investors understand what they need to believe to make the investment viable.
Find out more

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Lead contact

Chris Sandilands ACII, Partner

Chris leads engagements across strategy and transformation, focusing most of his time on global reinsurance and UK & Ireland retail insurance.

Chris started his career at Munich Re where he was a D&O underwriter. During this time, he gained his ACII qualification. He then moved into consulting, where he has spent 20 years advising (re)insurance management teams around the world on topics including strategy development, operating model redesign, governance optimisation, underwriting transformation and innovation. Chris lives in London and spends a lot of his time with clients in Bermuda and Continental Europe.

Chris frequently authors Oxbow Partners papers and articles. He was the lead author on our InsurTech Impact 25 series. He is a dual British and Austrian citizen and speaks fluent German.

Contact
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Lead contact

Paul De’Ath, Head of Market Intelligence

Paul is Head of the Oxbow Partners Market Intelligence team, which helps insurance and reinsurance clients access insights into insurance markets around the world.

Paul has a broad understanding of markets, a deep understanding of many of the key European players, and strong analytical foundations, all gained during his decade working as an equity research analyst coving European insurance. He is also a qualified accountant and spent time in strategy and finance roles at Standard Life.

Paul is a regular commentator on UK personal lines and is often quoted in publications such as the Financial Times. He has authored a number of articles for Oxbow Partners and has built our fundamental model for the UK motor market. He regularly attends client executive and board meetings to share his perspectives.

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