AnaCap in £127m insurance deal

UK-based AnaCap Financial Partners has agreed to acquire broking business the Brightside Group for 25 pence per share, in a take private deal that values the company at £127 million.

Brightside’s independent directors believe the offer represents “a fair price” for Brightside and has unanimously recommended that Brightside shareholders vote in favour of the deal.

Taking the company private will allow Brightside to “prioritise strategic development and growth over the demands of a public listing,” AnaCap said in a statement.

AnaCap will aim to develop Brightside into one of the leading personal and commercial lines insurance brokers in the UK market by investing into Brightside's business and “through a high degree of operational engagement,” it said.

Brightside will be acquired using capital from AnaCap FP GP II, a €574 million 2009-vintage. It is unclear how far this fund is deployed, but the fund will have a capacity to make further investments following the acquisition, AnaCap said.

The firm’s Fund II has so far delivered a net total value to paid (TVPI) multiple of 1.29x and a net distributions paid in (DPI) of 0.26x as of June 30 2013, according to documents from The New Jersey Division of Investment. 

Fund II’s companies have shown substantial revenue and earnings growth, with revenue growing from €14 million in 2009 to €469 million in 2013, according to the documents. This has resulted in a 227 percent 3-year compound annual growth rate over the period 2009 – 2012.

AnaCap is also currently in market attempting to raise €900 million for its third fund, according to the documents. In February, New Jersey proposed to invest €125 million in AnaCap Financial Partners III.