Acquisition

RNS Number : 5675T

Randall & Quilter Inv Hldgs PLC

09 June 2009

 



9 June 2009

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc

('Randall & Quilter' or the 'Company')

Acquisition of Woolworths Insurance (Guernsey) Limited and appointment of Managing Director

Randall & Quilter, the AIM traded run-off management service provider and acquirer of solvent insurance companies in run-off, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Woolworths Insurance (Guernsey) Limited ('Woolworths Captive'), the captive insurance company of Woolworths Group plc (in Administration), from Deloitte, the Administrators. The successful acquisition extends Randall & Quilter's offering into the captive market (see Note) and builds upon the acquisition at the end of 2008 of the Quest Group of Companies, which manages captives in Bermuda.  

As part of the acquisition of Woolworths Captive, Paul Corver, a Director of Randall & Quilter’s wholly owned subsidiary KMS and Chairman of the Association of Run-Off Companies, has been appointed Managing Director of the Captive Management Services division of Randall & Quilter.

Commenting on today's announcement, Ken Randall, Chief Executive Officer of Randall & Quilter, said:

'This acquisition is relatively small, with acquired net assets of approx. £1.2m and held insurance reserves of £7.5m.  It will be earnings enhancing for Randall &Quilter in the current financial year. 

When announcing our recent results, I noted that prices for run-off acquisitions did not fit our investment criteria and that Randall & Quilter had a good pipeline of acquisition opportunities for review.  Meanwhile, we have concentrated on developing those other areas of our offering which provided synergy. We are now proving the worth of that strategy.'

Captive Management Services Managing Director Paul Corver said: 'This is an exciting extension of our market leading skills in the legacy sector and I look forward to rolling it out further and deeper, building a new successful unit.  Captive owners need to carefully consider whether it is the best use of capital to carry assets in a legacy captive operation, especially when capital is tight.'

ENDS

Editors' notes: 

1. Captive insurance companies are established with the specific objective of insuring risks emanating from their parent group or groups. They sometimes also insure risks of the group's customers as well.
2. A photograph of Paul Corver, Managing Director of Randall & Quilter Captive Management Services is available on request.
3. KMS provides consultancy services and resource in the insurance, reinsurance and legacy arenas.

About Randall & Quilter

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc manages, acquires, and realises the surplus assets of solvent non-life insurance companies in run off, and acquires and realises reinsurance receivables in the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, Bermuda and North America. The company operates in three divisions: Insurance Services, Insurance Company, and Liquidity Management. The Insurance Services division provides services to insurance companies, including syndicates at Lloyd's and has operations in the U.K., Bermuda and the U.S. The Insurance Company division acquires solvent insurance companies in run-off and seeks to realise surplus assets within such companies and achieves exits through schemes of arrangements, transfer, or sale. The Liquidity Management division acquires reinsurance receivables on recourse and non recourse basis and seeks to realise them for cash. 

The Group has approximately 215 staff in its offices in the UK, Bermuda and the US.

Enquiries:

Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc

Ken Randall        Tel: [phone]        Mobile: [phone]

Alan Quilter        Tel: [phone]         Mobile: [phone]

Clean Communications

PJ Lewis         Tel: [phone]           [e-mail]

Noble & Company Limited

John Riddell                                          Tel: [phone]        

Sunil Sanikop                                        Tel: [phone]        

Numis Securities Limited

Charlie Farquhar                                    Tel: [phone]            

Deloitte LLP

Ian Clark                                               Tel: [phone]

 

END

 

 

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