Heath Lambert chief opens door to flotation but rules out sale

See also: The full story of Colosso's years at Heath Lambert

Heath Lambert chief executive Adrian Colosso has signalled that the company could float within three years.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Colosso laid out the company’s plans for the future and hinted that a flotation on the London Stock Exchange was increasingly likely.

He said it was something for the business to consider, but was in no rush. “A float is a long way off, you are going to have economic turmoil for the next two or three years,” he said.

He added: “I would not say that categorically our plan is to end up floating the business. If we grow the business consistently and keep improving profits then there is not really a reason to do anything.”

In a frank interview, Colosso moved to dispel market rumours that the business was up for sale and could sell to a consolidator. He declared that the selling was now over, after he sold the broker’s non-specialty wholesale business, including its aviation, reinsurance and UK wholesale divisions to Cooper Gay in May.

“I can’t see us being consumed by any one of them [consolidators],” he said. “We might talk to them but we would not enter into anything.

“I think it is a case of getting ourselves in the position of consistently growing the business, top line and bottom line, increasing the geographic reach, improving efficiency and then having the luxury of deciding what to do if we are making a 30 point return on our revenue.”

He ruled out of the possibility of selling a stake in the business to private equity investors in the near future. “The problem with the private equity sector is that you saddle a firm with 10 tonne of debt, and currently debt is very, very expensive.”