PE firm reportedly weighing sale of Esure

Private equity firm Bain Capital is reportedly looking at a possible sale of motor and home insurance provider Esure.

In 2018, Bain agreed to spend £1.21bn on acquiring Esure, which secured a 17% increase in turnover in the first half of 2024.

However, Reuters said that sources claimed Bain had lined up advisers, including Fenchurch, for a potential sale of the firm.

And Belgian insurer Ageas has been named as a potential bidder by the publication. Esure and Ageas use the same technology platform EIS.

Reuters sources said this made the target “particularly attractive to Ageas”.

Bain declined to comment when approached by Insurance Times, while Esure referred requests for comment to Bain.

Meanwhile, Ageas told Reuters that it does not comment on market rumours.

Other deal

This comes after Ageas announced a possible £3.1bn bid for Direct Line Group (DLG) in February 2024, before improving the terms of this.

Both proposals were rejected by DLG and Ageas said in March it would walk away from any deal for the time being.

Hans De Cuyper, chief executive at Ageas, said: “We had hoped to reach agreement on a jointly recommended firm offer together with the DLG board.

“However, I am convinced that given the circumstances, we took the right decision not to make an offer, staying true to who we are and what we stand for in terms of maintaining a friendly approach and respecting our financial discipline.

“I sincerely want to thank our employees and advisors who delivered outstanding performance exploring this opportunity and our investors for their continued trust in our company.”