DUAL is expanding its Asia-Pacific footprint via a major swoop in New Zealand.
“I am beyond thrilled to announce our first acquisition in 16 years by DUAL Asia-Pacific,” said Damien Coates (pictured), Asia-Pacific chief executive at DUAL, when it was unveiled that the Lloyd’s coverholder was snapping up a controlling interest in International Underwriting Agencies (IUA).
The transaction, financial details of which were not disclosed, will make DUAL New Zealand’s biggest specialty underwriting agency. IUA, meanwhile, will continue to be run by Mike and Debbie Street.
Lifting the lid on the deal, Coates said: “We have built a terrific AU$220 million premium business across four countries and seven offices based purely on organic growth. We are constantly looking at acquisitions, and this deal made so much sense based on the cultural alignment as well as complementary broking partners and product capability synergies with IUA.”
The CEO highlighted that adding IUA to DUAL, which has been operating in the New Zealand market for a decade now, will make the latter “far and away” the largest specialty Lloyd’s coverholder in the country with NZ$60 million in premium.
“Like we do in all territories,” said Coates, “we want to create market-leading propositions for our broking and carrier partners.”
