Ropes & Gray has advised K2 Insurance Services, a portfolio company of US private equity firm Lee Equity Partners, on its acquisition of Pioneer Underwriters, a London-headquartered underwriting services organisation.
The deal will see Pioneer’s ongoing underwriting portfolio, together with underwriting and support staff, transfer to K2, a specialist insurance services holding company, headquartered in San Diego. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q2, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The transferred business will comprise underwriting units specialising in property catastrophe reinsurance, financial institutions, international property facultative and marine specialty. These units will continue to be based in London and will form the cornerstone for future growth in K2’s international platform. Together the units will underwrite approximately GBP150 million of gross written premium in 2020, all of which is supported by high quality capacity providers.
The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity transactions partner Kiran Sharma in London. Other members of the team included private equity transactions partner Scott Abramowitz, in New York, tax partner Brenda Coleman, tax associate Andrew Douglas, private equity transactions associates Natalie Eliades and David Dowling and trainee solicitors Ashleigh Morton and Chad Parkinson, all are based in the firm’s London office.
