Australian giant pays £140m for UK's 5th largest motor broker
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has confirmed the £140m acquisition of Hastings Insurance Services Limited, the UK's fifth largest motor insurance broker.
News of the acquisition was initially broken by insurancetimes.co.uk last week, when it reported that an unnamed Australian group had announced the move to senior managers on the Monday.
IAG has also acquired Gibraltar-based insurer, Advantage Insurance Company. The direct personal lines company uses Hastings Insurance to distribute and administer policies within the UK.
Michael Hawker, chief executive of IAG, said the company would accelerate growth of Hastings. It is expected to contribute about 3% of the Group's gross written premium (GWP) target growth of 5-10% by the end of June 2007.
Hawker said: “This acquisition fits the mould. Hastings is a successful, specialist insurance broker whose brand is well known in the market.
Hastings is expected to achieve £200m in GWP by the end of 2006, whilst Advantage is expected to underwrite £100m by the end of the year.
