M&A was the biggest type of deal in the quarter, with 29 deals worth a total of $4.28bn

The UK insurance industry saw a drop of 6.5% in overall deal activity during the fourth quarter of 2019, when compared with the last four-quarter average, according to GlobalData’s deals database.

A total of 29 deals worth $4.86bn were announced in Q4 2019, compared to an average of 31 deals a quarter for the previous 12 months.

M&A was the leading category in the quarter with 24 deals, followed by private equity with three deals, and venture financing with two transactions.

And mergers and acquisitions were also the leading deal category in terms of the value of deals, with total deals worth $4.28bn. Private equity and venture financing deals totalled $560m and $20.01m respectively.

The Top Five Deals of Q4 2019

The top five insurance deals accounted for 99.6% of the overall value during Q4 2019, with a combined value of $4.84bn:

  • Phoenix Group Holdings’ $4.27bn acquisition of ReAssure Group

  • The $560m private equity deal with Riverstone Management by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System

  • Helios Underwriting’s $7.39m acquisition of Catbang 926

  • The $4.36m acquisition of Carroll Insurance Group by PSC Insurance Group

  • Seedrs’ venture financing of Pluto Services for $0.73m.

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