Motor broker and insurer expected to announce £150m Goldman Sachs investment
Hastings Direct could announce a £150m investment from Goldman Sachs as soon as this week, according to reports.
GS Capital Partners, Goldman’s private equity arm, will make the investment for just under 50% of Hastings, Sky News has reported. New York-based managing director at Goldman Sumit Rajpal is expected to join Hastings’ board as part of the deal.
Hastings will announce the investment alongside the launch of a bond issue to raise around £420m.
In total, the transactions will value the insurance company at £720m.
Hastings Insurance Group comprises UK-based broker Hastings Insurance Services and Gibraltar-based insurer Advantage Insurance Company. It made a pre-tax profit of £61m last year, up from £31m (2011). Customer numbers increased by 18% year-on-year to 1,145,000 and gross premiums placed by the group increased by 19% to £423m.
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