Apollo buying Aspen for $2.6bn
Private equity and alternative investment specialist Apollo Global Management, LLC is acquiring Bermudian insurance and reinsurance firm Aspen Insurance Holdings for $2.6 billion, providing another sign of the attraction asset managers have to insurance-linked returns and the resulting long-term capital.
With the acquisition of Aspen, Apollo also gains access to an established insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralized reinsurance platform, in Aspen Capital Markets and the team managing the Peregrine Re collateralized reinsurance vehicle.
With Aspen having been a heavy user of third-party reinsurance capital in recent years, through its own Aspen Capital Markets and Peregrine transactions, its quota shares with other investors and ILS funds, and also its recent return to the catastrophe bond market with the $225m Kendall Re Ltd. (Series 2018-1), it will be interesting to see how that strategy fits into an Apollo Global owned private re/insurance entity.
Apollo is no stranger to insurance and reinsurance linked returns having a majority stake in the life and retirement reinsurance focused company Athene Holding Ltd.
Apollo has demonstrated its desire as an investor to access long-term sources of capital through reinsurance business, but it is also known for growing profitable enterprises within its Apollo Funds, in their own right, hence with Aspen’s business a mix of shorter and long-tailed it will be interesting to see where the future focus lies....MUCH MORE
