Double deal for hungry PMI business
LANCASHIRE-based private medical insurance consolidator Chase Templeton has sealed its first deals of what it expects to be a busy 2016 with the acquisition of Health Equity Solutions and Caledonian Health Solutions.
The acquisitions bring a further £2.15m in annual premium income and nearly 370 mainly SME clients to the Darwen headquartered business, which is backed by Manchester private equity firm Palatine.
Health Equity Solutions was the Preston-based corporate vehicle of well-respected health insurance adviser Paul Nugent with Caledonian Health Solutions, of Kelso in the Scottish Borders, that of Graham Coates. Nugent has exited in order to pursue new challenges while Coates is retiring.
Chase Templeton’s mergers and acquisitions director Jeff Tate said: “These are both very solid books, offered to us by vendors exiting for different reasons but united in their desire not just to realise the value of their assets, but to place their clients in hands they can trust.
“These are strong, SME-oriented client bases which have been carefully nurtured and which we believe will benefit from the added value which Chase Templeton, with the additional resource we can commit, will deliver.”
Paul Nugent said: “The decision to sell Health Equity Solutions was very much driven by a belief that going forward a larger and more influential organisation could better serve clients within an increasingly competitive and regulated market. Because of the strong relationship we already enjoyed and the mutual trust and respect that fostered, Chase Templeton was a natural home.”
So far under Chase Templeton’s buy and build strategy it has acquired more than 50 businesses and books since 2013. It comes after the company added some £40m in API in the last quarter (Oct-Dec 2015) alone following the purchases of Healthcare Partners, Atlas Consulting Group and Consilium Employee Benefits.
Jeff Tate added: “This year will in very many ways echo 2015 as we look to seal a number of significant deals to consolidate our position as one of the leading players in the UK private medical insurance market, with an eye to becoming the biggest within the SME space.”
Chase Templeton now has 115 employees at its offices in Darwen Somerset and most recently Bromley. Kent.
