Private equity firm Southampton Financial has bought digital insurance brokerage aha insurance.
“We are pleased to welcome aha into our portfolio of companies and look forward to driving further innovation and accelerating growth,” Southampton founder and CEO Brian Reeve said in a news release shared with Insurance Business.
Waterloo-based aha insurance, which specialises in online car and home insurance, was founded in 2017. The business serves customers across Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
“For the past six years, aha has focused on bringing digital solutions to the Canadian insurance landscape through our innovative brokerage platform,” said aha insurance CEO Steve Livingstone. “The transaction with Southampton marks a significant milestone for our young company as we will tap into a much larger platform with significant resources and talent to bring a broader range of products and services, all with the goal of greatly accelerating our growth strategy.”
Southampton Financial, which also lists Alteri amongst its investments, is planning to build an “integrated platform” that will include both brokerages and MGAs, according to a notice on its website.
“Each platform company will make a specific contribution to the Southampton platform,” the business said on the site. “Southampton will look for acquisitions that are not just EBIDTA accretive but which also add additional skills and areas of expertise to the platform.
“Platform companies will also be encouraged to buy books of business as well as hire experienced producers as an alternative to doing more expensive acquisitions of entire companies.”
The business intends to operate as a national insurance intermediary as it builds the “insurance broker platform of the future” and is on the hunt for a suitable partner in Quebec, at which stage it intends to introduce French language capabilities, according to Southampton Financial’s website.
Premium financing, employee benefits and life and health insurance are expected to be available through its platform.
“The approach of Southampton will be to outsource and partner with leading companies in areas outside of its expertise,” it is stated on the website. “This will lead to the best and widest possible range of services for Southampton’s customers as well as create an income stream of referral fees.”
