INSURANCE broker Autonet has been bought by investor HPS Investment Partners in a deal that will see the company’s co-founder depart.
Autonet specialises in van and car insurance and last year wrote premiums totalling £130m. It now employs 700 people in Stoke-on-Trent.
Now, 18 years after it was founded, it has been acquired for an undisclosed sum. HPS has taken a majority stake, which is subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.
Chairman Glynn Keeling is to leave the business, but his co-founder and current managing director Ian Donaldson will continue to run the business alongside finance director Craig Ball.
“The business is unrecognisable from where we began in 1998,” said Mr Keeling. “By remaining true to our founding principle we have taken Autonet from a start up to one of the UK’s leading insurance brokers.
“I am very proud of what we have achieved and delighted that Ian and Craig will be leading the next phase in the Autonet story.”
Mr Donaldson added: “We’ve had numerous approaches to sell Autonet. This is the one that turned our head because it gives us long term backing for our next phase of growth and is a great opportunity for the business and our staff.”
Garth Hackshall and David Jones, corporate finance partners at business advisory firm Deloitte, acted as lead advisors to the shareholders on the sale of Autonet.
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