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Swiss Re's UK arm ReAssure Group aims to float in London in July

Published: 09:17 14 Jun 2019 BST

legal & general
ReAssure has a big deal pending with Legal & General

ReAssure Group PLC has confirmed the go-ahead for a float in London as the UK-focused life insurance consolidator is spun out of its parent Swiss Re.

Having said last week that it was considering an initial public offer, ReAssure said on Friday that it plans to float some of Swiss Re’s existing shares but would not raise any funds by issuing new equity.

READ: ReAssure to float in London as part of spin-out from parent Swiss Re

ReAssure, which buys up and manages life insurance policies that other insurers no longer want to own, has 4.3mln policies and £68.7bn of assets under administration, making it the sixth largest life insurance group in the UK by total assets. This includes a pending deal to buy Legal & General’s £650mln mature savings business, expected to complete later this year.

The indicative price range of the offer and the maximum number of shares to be sold have not yet been decided, with a prospectus confirming these details to be published in the coming weeks, with admission expected to occur in July.

At least 25% of the company’s shares will be floated, with Swiss Re also providing extra shares for a potential over-allotment.

As well as providing a partial exit for its parent and widen its access to capital in future, ReAssure said it was pursuing the IPO to increase its "flexibility and appetite for growth as it will no longer be subject to Swiss Re specific constraints".

MS&AD Holdings, the Japanese financial group, invested in ReAssure in 2017 and raised this up to 25% in December, when the valuation of the UK business was given as £3.5bn.

With the shares expected to be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices, this valuation would put ReAssure in the FTSE 250.

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