Due diligence of managing agent said to be underway
Lloyd's managing agent Talbot is an acquisition target for Bermuda insurers.
According to market sources, representatives of a number of Bermuda insurance companies are in London this week looking at potential acquisition targets in the Lloyd's market.
Several sources said due diligence was being carried out on a Lloyd's managing agent, thought to be Talbot.
Talbot, which underwrites a diverse book of property and casualty business through its Syndicate 1183, is part-backed by private equity firms.
Olympus Partners, which also has interests in Bermuda insurers Aspen, Tempus Re and Ariel Re, owns 43% of Talbot. Reservoir Capital Group owns 10%, while ICG has a 5% stake.
Talbot declined to comment.
Speculation has mounted in the past 12 months that Lloyd's would become an increasingly attractive destination for Bermuda and US insurers. This increased following the £600m merger of Catlin and Wellington and the £3.8bn agreement between Equitas and Berkshire Hathaway,
A year ago, Bronek Masojada, chief executive of Hiscox, said that Bermuda-based insurers were planning to acquire Lloyd's rivals following major hurricane losses in 2005.
This week one senior insurance figure told Insurance Times: "The question is not who is an obvious target, but who is not. They all are, except for a very few."
He added: "What we are seeing is a lot of insurance companies, particularly those in Bermuda, awash with cash and having had some very good years. They are now looking for diversification. I would have thought a Lloyd's managing agent was a very obvious target."
A number of Bermuda insurers are thought to have submitted proposals to Lloyd's to set up syndicates.
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