£460m GWP MGA secures new majority shareholders

MGA Optio has announced that international private equity firm Cinven, and global investment group La Caisse, have agreed to jointly acquire a majority stake from Preservation Capital Partners (PCP).

Optio said the move would support its next chapter as it continues to expand its specialist underwriting capabilities, broaden its product offering and grow its international presence.

The MGA’s management team will remain significantly invested and continue to lead the business following completion of the transaction.

Deepak Soni, chief executive at Optio, said: ”We are confident that, together with our new shareholder group, we will continue to build on these foundations, pursuing our growth strategy and expanding our capabilities while preserving the entrepreneurial culture and specialist expertise that define our business.”

Luigi Sbrozzi, partner and co-head of the strategic funds at Cinven, added: “We are excited to partner with them as they continue to scale the business both organically and through further M&A.

“We are also delighted to be partnering with La Caisse on this transaction and look forward to working together to support Optio’s next phase of growth.”

Martin Longchamps, executive vice president and gead of private equity and private credit at La Caisse, added that “specialty insurance is a market where technical underwriting expertise, disciplined risk selection and scale increasingly matter”.

”Optio is well positioned in that environment, with a differentiated platform serving complex insurance markets, a strong European base and clear international growth potential,” he added.

”Our investment reflects La Caisse’s conviction in the long-term fundamentals of the sector, our experience across the insurance value chain and our focus on backing high quality businesses alongside sophisticated, like-minded partners.”

PCP backing

Since PCP’s original investment in 2018, Optio has become a diversified platform writing over £460m across 18 offices in 15 countries.

This growth has been driven by more than 10 acquisitions and eight team hires, alongside double-digit organic growth.

Soni said: ”Over the past few years, with the support of PCP, we have successfully built a diversified global platform through investment in our teams and the acquisition of high quality specialist MGAs.

”Throughout this period, we have remained focused on delivering strong underwriting results for our insurer partners and outstanding service to our brokers.”

Jeroen Bischops, senior partner at PCP, added: “What the Optio team have built over the past few years has been phenomenal. It has grown into one of the largest and best regarded MGA platforms in Europe, with a well-balanced and diversified portfolio supported by leading underwriting talent.

”It has been a privilege to support the team over this period and we are proud of what Optio has grown into during our partnership. We could not have wished for better partners for the business than Cinven and La Caisse. We look forward to following Optio’s journey as it continues to grow.”