Cullum Capital Ventures (CCV) is set to reach its 2007 target of controlling £100m of gross written premium (GWP) after signing up six new brokers.
The six are currently undergoing due diligence which should be completed by the end of July, boosting CCV’s gross written premiums to £100m – a target set for the business to achieve by the end of 2007.
“We are completing two in the next two weeks with the rest completed towards the end of July,” Tim Johnson, CCV chief executive, told Insurance Times.
CCV has already surpassed its launch aim of controlling £50m GWP by this June, with the 12 completed acquisitions and buy-ups totaling £65m.
The six new broker acquisitions will total £35m bringing up the £100m target figure.
CCV was launched to acquire small and medium sized regional brokers with between £3m to £10m in GWP, offering a bespoke service of investment and shareholding and with the brokers maintaining their name and autonomy.
Johnson said that CCV’s offering should be seen as distinct from Towergate’s, with a more flexible approach for companies that might
not wholly fit or favour Towergate’s acquisition model.
“Some of the new brokers coming on board are bigger than the GWP we set ourselves, but because they fall within our bespoke service they are the right brokers to be part of our organisation,” said Johnson.
The bespoke service offered by CCV means that brokers could sell a share of their business to CCV in a way that suited and benefited them and over a period of time, he said.
Launched in April 2006, the structure of CCV was made up of a £92m war chest created from a £81m investment from Bank of Scotland Corporate, HBOS’s corporate finance arm, and £11m made up from the main shareholder Peter Cullum, along with Andy Homer, Johnson and others.
Meeting the £100m target also puts Johnson and CCV in a good position to achieve the expected £350m GWP within three years.
