IK Partners, through its IK Partnership III Fund, has signed an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Seventeen Group, the UK-based independent insurance and risk management organisation.
The stake will be acquired from the founding shareholders and management team. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This transaction marks IK’s first investment in the UK insurance market, building on its experience in supporting similar businesses across Europe.
Founded in 1982, Seventeen provides a range of services, including broking, underwriting, risk and claims management. It consists of James Hallam, a UK-wide brokerage platform serving domestic and international commercial, personal, specialty and high-net-worth clients; Touchstone, a specialist independent managing general agency working with more than 550 brokers, and London Re, a joint venture with MRH Trowe, domiciled in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Seventeen operates from 25 offices across the UK, DACH region, and the Isle of Man, managing approximately £400 million in premiums.
The investment represents a significant development for the Group. With IK’s support, Seventeen aims to accelerate growth and leverage technology to pursue opportunities in new and existing markets.
“We have been very impressed by Seventeen’s journey to date and believe that the Group is well positioned to continue its strong development, off the back of its strong customer service focus, broad coverage of the value chain and longstanding expertise in the insurance brokerage and underwriting space,” said Adrian Tanski, partner at IK and advisor to the IK Partnership III Fund.
In an interview with Insurance Business in June 2024, Seventeen CEO Paul Anscombe (pictured) said that the company continues to see significant opportunities. He said the firm still plans to pursue further acquisitions but added that it is critical to invest in its own operations, whether it is in technology, new teams or new lines of business.
“We’re also looking at further international expansion,” Anscombe said. “We’re doing this cautiously but we have a good footprint internationally at present, and we’d like to build upon that. More of our clients are becoming international and there’s more demand from overseas brokers looking to access the London market so we’ve been restructuring to take that opportunity.”
