Insurance firm Swinton snapped up in £165m deal

Manchester insurance firm Swinton has been bought by rival the Ardonagh Group for £165m.

The company was founded by late Ken Scowcroft in his home in Swinton in 1957 and at one stage it was the biggest insurance firm in the UK.

Swinton currently employs 1,500 staff and is owned by French group Covéa SGAM.

Covea has invested £45m over the last two years as part of the move towards dealing with customers online.

Ardonagh said the deal will be funded by a mixture of debt and ‘monetising certain Swinton assets’.

Pierre Michel, managing director of reinsurance and international operations at Covéa said: “Over the last few years, Swinton and its executive team have transformed and repositioned the business and now is the right time for it to move into new ownership.

“Swinton will become part of a growing and innovative UK insurance brokerage group, and I am confident that being part of The Ardonagh Group will provide Swinton with a great platform from which to deliver significant benefits to all its stakeholders, including its customers and employees.”

Last year Swinton had a turnover of £168m, more than one million customers and 1.6 million live policies.

Ardonagh are set to become its third owner in the last 30 years, after Sun Alliance in 1988 and Covéa.

Ardonagh was created in 2017 bringing together five major insurance brands – Autonet, Chase Templeton, Direct Group, Price Forbes and Towergate.

The group currently operates from over 100 locations across the UK employing 6,000 people and its headquarters are in London.

Chief executive David Ross said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Swinton into the Ardonagh group of companies; a personal lines household name steeped in heritage and another best in class brand which will be the perfect addition to our portfolio.

“The opportunity to share expertise in the development of our digital platforms to accelerate the scale and scope of our offerings is clear to see. Swinton is a hugely complementary, highly accretive acquisition, enabling us to occupy a significant space in personal lines broking.”