Calliden CEO Nick Kirk says he has “no idea” what he will do once
Steadfast’s acquisition of the group is complete.
Speaking
to Insurance Business, Kirk said himself and the senior management team are focused on achieving the full year targets, rather than what they will do once
Steadfast has acquired Calliden Group.
“From my point of view, I have no idea and I have not even thought about it as yet. My job is to maximise value for our shareholders so I am not even thinking about that at moment.
“The focus of the senior management team is very much business as usual. We have to still achieve our targets for the year.”
Kirk said it is understood that the Calliden teams will move with the operations that are being acquired by Steadfast and
Munich Re.
“It’s very early days but our understanding is that the teams will go to where the business is going. For both Steadfast and Munich Re it is a feature of the proposal that they need people in order to run those businesses. We need to firm that up in the next few months.”
Kirk said the deal with Steadfast had been “a pretty straightforward approach”. “We had an approach from Steadfast saying they were interested and they were partnering with the Munich Re Group. It really just went from there.”
Now that the deal has been announced, Calliden will appoint an independent expert to look into the deal, which will be completed via a scheme implementation deed, and decide if it is in the best interest of the shareholders.
The first court hearing will be in late October. The scheme booklet needs to be produced between now and then.
“The directors of Calliden felt very strongly that at what is roughly a 30% premium to recently traded prices, it was a deal shareholders needed to be aware of and make their judgment on,” Kirk added.
Munich Re has been Calliden’s reinsurance partner since 2005. Great Lakes Australia, a subsidiary of Munich Re, has supported Calliden’s managing general agency since 2012.
As part of the acquisition deal, Steadfast will sell on the Calliden general insurance operations, Calliden Insurance Limited, and the Business Package and Middle Market Agencies portfolios to Munich Re, which GLA already underwrites. Munich Re will also acquire related operating infrastructure from Calliden Agency Services Limited which will “advance GLA’s business package and commercial insurance product distribution”.
Ludger Arnoldussen, member of Munich Re’s board of management responsible for Germany, Asia- Pacific and Africa, said: ““The establishment of a new commercially-focused underwriting agency will enable Great Lakes Australia to provide a fresh alternative to all distribution partners across the market.
“Furthermore, we look forward to a long-term partnership with Steadfast, which will enable us to jointly develop profitable target-niche and commercial business.”
