Finance group plans stock market float
Life insurance group ReAssure has revealed plans to float on the London stock market as it looks to continue its consolidation of the market.
The Shropshire-headquartered business buys and administers closed books of business from other companies and now has 4.3m policies and looks after investments of more than £68.7bn for its customers.
It is the sixth largest life insurance group in the United Kingdom, employing 2,500 people across its four sites in Telford, Norwich, Hitchin and London.
ReAssure chief executive Mark Hodges said the company is “taking the next and natural step for this business, exploring a potential IPO”.
It is currently part of the world’s second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, and plans to have a free float of at least 25% of the company’s shares.
Hodges said: “ReAssure has a long history of value creating M&A deals and the generation of sustainable and resilient cash flows. We believe this will underpin attractive returns to shareholders.
“We see growth opportunities through further consolidation of closed life and pension books in the UK.
“A potential IPO would provide us with additional flexibility to take advantage of the opportunities we see.”
ReAssure has completed four acquisitions since 2012 and experienced growth of approximately 2.6m policies and £44.9bn of assets.
It bought Legal & General’s closed mature savings business last year, which added 1.0m policies, and other significant deals included the 2016 takeover of Guardian Group and the purchase of policies and assets from HSBC Life in 2014.
ReAssure has told potential investors that it “currently expects to pay a dividend of £265m” each year.
It has also revealed ambitious growth targets. The group has a five-year cumulative surplus generation target of £2.1bn from 2019 to 2023, which it is then forecasting it will nearly double to £4.1bn from 2024 onwards before the impact of any future acquisitions.
