Livingstone Partners’ debt advisory team has concluded a debt raise on behalf of online insurance intermediary iprism to repay a majority of the loan notes held by founder Gary Burke and his private equity backer Magenta Partners.
Livingstone advised Burke on the equity capital raise which introduced Magenta into iprism in 2010.
iprism is an insurance intermediary focused on the SME market providing new policies and renewals to brokers and direct customers that are underwritten by its panel of insurers. The company has developed an online platform that generates comparative quotes and full policy documentation in real-time. Brokers and customers can select their policy and buy it within minutes without referral back to the underlying insurers.
iprism’s platform includes household names such as AXA, Aviva, and LV on its panel of insurers. Over 1,000 brokers have iprism agency agreements.
Since Livingstone introduced Magenta, iprism has continued its steep growth trajectory achieving over GBP2m EBITDA in 2011 and anticipating in excess of GBP4m in 2012.
Bill Troup (pictured), managing director of debt advisory at Livingstone London, says: “iprism’s profitability, strong cash generation and good visibility of earnings deliver the perfect characteristics to support leveraged debt. This was an excellent opportunity to return cash early to the private equity sponsors.”
Burke says: “It was great to work with Livingstone again. Eleanor Wilkinson’s knowledge of the business and the team made the whole process very smooth. The technical knowledge and banking experience that Bill Troup provided enabled us to perfect the debt structure to suit all parties.”
