North American insurance deal activity falls in Q4 – GlobalData

The North American insurance industry posted a drop of 8.7% in overall deal activity in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the four-quarter average, according to a new report from GlobalData.

A total of 157 deals worth US$13.13 billion were announced for North America during Q4, a drop from the four-quarter average of 172 deals. M&A saw the most activity in Q4 with 118 deals, a 75.2% share of the total for the region.

Venture financing took second place with 34 deals, followed by private equity with five deals, GlobalData reported. Venture financing and private equity captured 21.7% and 3.2%, respectively, of the quarter’s total deal activity.

M&A also led deal categories in total value at US$11.47 billion. Venture financing and private equity deals totaled US$1.12 billion and US$550 million, respectively.

The top five insurance deals accounted for 91.4% of overall deal value in Q4, GlobalData reported. The combined value of the top five deals was US$12.01 billion.

The top five Q4 deals tracked by GlobalData were:

• New York Life Insurance’s US$6.3 billion asset transaction with Cigna.
• The US$3.1 billion acquisition of Privilege Underwriters by HCC Insurance (Inactive).
• Resolution Life Holdings’ US$1.25 billion asset transaction with Voya Financial.
• IA Financial Group’s US$720 million acquisition of IAS Parent Holdings.
• The US$635 million venture financing of Bright Health by Bessemer Venture Partners, Cross Creek Advisors, Declaration Partners, Flare Capital Partners, Greenspring Associates, Meritech Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Redpoint Ventures and Town Hall Ventures.