Root, Inc, a car insurance company backed by Carvana Co, saw its shares surge 40% to $13.45 on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Embedded Insurance has approached Root several times with offers to acquire the company for $19.34 per share, citing people familiar with the matter.
The media outlet noted that entrepreneur James Hall, who runs Embedded Insurance, reportedly sent a proposal to Root on June 9 and has tried to engage in talks for nearly a year.
During his career, Hall has built numerous insurance and technology companies including: Salty Dot, Inc., acquired by CDK Global in 2021; Insurance Point, acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in July 2015; and Ebenefits.com, acquired by UPMC in 2007.
Root CEO Alex Timm previously told The Columbus Dispatch that the company has been cutting costs to close in on profitability.
The Root app has more than 12 million downloads and has collected more than 22 billion miles of driving data to inform their insurance offerings, according to the company.
Shares of Root have soared more than 200% year to date.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com