“An extremely desirable business.”
That is how Jensten Group CFO Ed Hannan described Senior Wright Limited after the broking and insurance group completed its acquisition of the firm today.
A wholesale and retail broker that places more than £20 million in GWP in the Lloyd’s and company markets, Senior Wright has offices in Dudley, Leeds, Edinburgh and London. Now it is set to continue on as a standalone brand within Jensten’s wholesale division.
“Senior Wright… [has] a strong track record and an attractive client base and we look forward to supporting the team in unlocking further potential in the business,” said Hannan.
All members of the team, including managing director Michael Griffin, will remain with the business. Simon Taylor, the managing director of Jensten Wholesale, is keen to welcome him to the group.
“From the outset we knew that Senior Wright would make a good strategic and cultural fit: Mike has built a successful, specialist construction and liability business with a great reputation in the market,” Taylor said. “This is going to be a powerful addition to the Jensten Wholesale armoury - taking wholesale GWP to over £80 million – and will be of great benefit to our partner brokers and their clients.”
Meanwhile, Griffin expressed his own delight at the deal, noting it was time to look after the firm’s future.
“From my early dealings with Simon and the team at Jensten it was clear that their philosophy matches that of Senior Wright and we have a common vision and ambition for the business,” he said. “I am delighted to be continuing in the business as managing director and look forward to the loyal and talented team we’ve built at Senior Wright becoming part of Jensten at such an interesting time in its development.”
Speaking of Jensten’s development, according to Hannan, there may be more deals to come soon.
“As a management team, one of our primary missions is to grow through targeted acquisition of good quality, niche and non-commoditised insurance businesses,” he said. “We have strong operational and financial support from our backers, Livingbridge, in the execution of our ever-accelerating buy and build strategy. That we are able to execute on our strategy and sign deals in the current economic environment is testament to the determined ambition of our group, management and shareholders. We have a strong M&A pipeline, excellent funding in place and a great proposition to potential vendors. We look forward to announcing further acquisitions in the near future.”
