Travers Smith LLP has acted on the acquisition of British insurer Amlin plc by Japanese insurance company Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company (MSI). MSI has agreed to acquire Amlin for 670 pence per share in cash, which values the transaction at approximately £3.5 billion.
Working alongside lead counsel Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Travers Smith provided advice to MSI on the employee incentives and real estate aspects of the transaction. The team comprised of employee incentives partner Mahesh Varia and senior counsel Elissavet Grout and real estate associate Stuart Johnson. Other advisers on the transaction included Linklaters who acted for Amlin.
MSI is one of the ten largest non-life insurers in the world, with assets of over £96 billion and annual net premiums in excess of £15 billion. Since its launch in 2000, Mitsui Sumitomo at Lloyd's has built a £350 million business in London. The group has exceptionally strong credit ratings and has more than 320 offices in over 40 territories around the world.
Its combination with Amlin, one of the leading independent insurers operating in the Lloyd's, UK, Continental Europe and Bermudian markets, will create a world-leading insurance company, with an international business anchored in the Lloyd's market. The combination will accelerate MSI’s strategy of growing its international business, and drive a number of benefits across Amlin's business as a result of it being part of a substantially larger group.
This transaction is the latest in a line of mergers in the insurance sector recently.