Open GI and PowerPlace complete MBO folowing FCA clearance
WORCESTER-based insurance provider, Open GI and its sister company, PowerPlace, have completed an MBO, with support provided by Montagu Private Equity.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed but commentators have suggested it could be worth in excess of £300m. The transaction follows approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
An initial agreement was reached in August by the management team of Open International Ltd, the holding company of Open GI, Open GI London and PowerPlace, to acquire the businesses from their private shareholders, utilising the backing of Montagu, one of Europe’s longest established private equity firms.
The deal sees Peter Cullum and a group of other private shareholders fully exit from the business and the existing management team, led by Chris Guillaume, Group CEO, grow their equity stake.
Guillaume, Group CEO, Open International, said: “Our business has demonstrated significant, positive growth during the last seven years, but to take us to the next phase new investment was required.
“We considered a number of options, including flotation, and were in the fortunate position where choices were available to us. We are delighted with our new partners, Montagu, and this deal creates a new capital structure for the business providing a clear, medium-to-long term horizon in which to implement a range of new strategies to drive further growth.”
Edward Shuckburgh, Director, Montagu Private Equity, added: “We’re delighted to be reunited with the team at Open International, following our original participation in 2006. It’s a business that has demonstrated consistent growth and profitability for a number of years, through market-leading innovation led by a strong management team. We look forward to assisting in the continued success of the business.”
Open GI is the UK and Ireland’s leading supplier of business-critical software and services to the general insurance market, supporting an estimated 19,000 users, including insurers, brokers and aggregators, operating across almost 2,000 sites.
The business enjoys long term customer relationships and has a strong track record of product innovation, including tools to enable the electronic trading of personal lines insurance and ecommerce platforms.
In 2013, Open International acquired PowerPlace, an online commercial insurance marketplace, which distributes commercial insurance products electronically via its base of around 1,200 broking firms and is integrated with Open GI’s software platform.
