J.C. Flowers buys AmeriLife Group in secondary buyout

J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC has agreed to acquire insurance distributor AmeriLife Group from Reservoir Capital Group and Black Diamond Capital Partners after an eight-year hold period, according to a statement by the target company.

Officials from New York's J.C. Flowers declined to comment about the deal beyond the statement, which outlined that the management team of AmeriLife, led by chief executive Timothy North, are shareholders in the company and will roll their proceeds from the deal back into the company.

J. Christopher Flowers, managing director and CEO of financial services-focused J.C. Flowers, said in a news release that the firm will seek to grow its new portfolio company through acquisitions and organic initiatives as Americans have become “more cognizant of the need for improved insurance coverage.”

AmeriLife is a Florida.-based provider of annuity, life and health insurance products through a network of over 100,000 independent agents and 75 insurance carriers. The company, which also has an administration business, generated over $1.5 billion in premium volume last year.

New York's Reservoir Capital and Black Diamond, an Austin, Texas-based firm, did not return calls about their exit from AmeriLife.

Evercore served as financial advisor to AmeriLife, while Morgan Stanley & Co. acted as financial advisor to J.C. Flowers. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP was counsel to the acquirer.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP was legal advisor to Reservoir Capital Group. 

Pending regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2015.