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As many as 21.4% of the shares in Pension Insurance Corporation Group – parent company of specialist insurer PIC – will be snapped up by sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The stake will be acquired by an ADIA subsidiary from funds advised by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are delighted to welcome ADIA to our small group of committed shareholders with financial services expertise and long-term investment horizons,” commented PIC chief executive Tracy Blackwell. “We are confident that, together, they will continue to build on the valuable support provided by J.C. Flowers over the past 12 years, and ensure that PIC is ideally placed to meet the increased demand from pension fund trustees.”
With over £25 billion in financial assets, PIC provides buy-ins and buyouts to the trustees and sponsors of UK defined benefit pension schemes. The bulk annuities provider will be partly owned by ADIA’s private equities department.
“This investment is a further demonstration of our ongoing strategy to seek out principal investments in market-leading businesses with strong management teams,” noted Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, executive director at ADIA private equities. “PIC has proven its ability to respond to the growing trend for UK companies to de-risk their defined benefit pension obligations and, as such, has strengthened its position as one of the industry’s leading pension insurance providers.”
ADIA, which has invested in private equity since 1989, is interested in the sectors of financial services, healthcare, industrials, technology, and consumer products.
Meanwhile Tim Hanford, managing director in charge of J.C. Flowers Europe, added that they are “very confident” that PIC will continue on what he described as the insurer’s “successful journey” with the wealth fund’s backing.
“As a founding investor in PIC, we have supported the company on its path to becoming a leader in the growing UK bulk annuity sector,” he said. “We are delighted to see them starting a new partnership with ADIA…”
