It had been rumoured around the market for close to a year – and now insurance intermediary Global Risk Partners (GRP) officially has a new majority owner.
Today it has been revealed that Searchlight Capital Partners, the global private investment firm, will acquire a majority stake in GRP with founders Peter Cullum CBE and David Margrett, as well as founding investor Penta Capital, retaining minority stakes.
The move will also see Mike Bruce (pictured), group managing director, step into the role of group chief executive. Margrett will become a non-executive chairman, with Cullum retaining a role on the board as a non-executive director.
“We are both immensely proud of the business we have helped build from a standing start,” said Cullum and Margrett in a joint statement. “In little over six years, it has grown to become one of the largest insurance intermediaries in the UK.
“We are delighted that Searchlight will become the new majority shareholder in GRP. Searchlight is an ideal partner and it was obvious from an early stage that its ambition for the business and understanding of the opportunity was closely aligned with the group’s values and vision.”
GRP was founded back in 2013 and is now the second largest independent insurance intermediary in the UK with GWP close to £800 million and more than 1,600 employees. It operates retail broking, specialist MGA and Lloyd’s businesses, and Bruce is keen that it builds on its existing acquisition-led strategy.
“Partnering with Searchlight enables us to continue to capitalise on the considerable market opportunity ahead and their experience and relationships will be invaluable to GRP in executing our acquisition-led growth strategy,” he said. “The power of this strategy is demonstrated by the quality of the businesses we have acquired and the talented people who have joined GRP through these acquisitions.”
Meanwhile, Andrew Frey, a partner at Searchlight, which has more than US$7 billion in assets across offices in London, New York and Toronto, noted that the company looks to invest where it sees potential value creation for all stakeholders.
“We are delighted to be partnering with GRP and its management team,” he said. “The group’s differentiated ‘hub and spoke’ model and entrepreneurial, owner-driver culture has enabled GRP to build a leading market position through impressive growth. By combining local presence with deep data-driven expertise, GRP offers a better product set and a superior service to its clients. This customer centric culture is at the heart of our investment thesis and our high confidence in the Group’s exciting future. We look forward to partnering with Peter, David, Mike, Penta and the entire GRP team to drive the next chapter of GRP’s success.”
