Coverzones bought out of administration

The assets of online SME aggregator Coverzones have been bought out of administration by the management team with backing from a major private investor.

Coverzones, which went into administration on 10th May, launched in July 2008 and according to the firm, had entered exclusive discussions with a global financial services brand for the sale of the business in the following January.

However, following the collapse of the takeover talks in February 2009, Coverzones failed to secure the working capital needed to avoid going into administration.

Coverzones had already received in excess of £8m of investment to develop the full-cycle system which supported its online price comparison and policy management service for SME’s.

The management team said it has received "universal support" from the carriers that were operating on, or planning to join, the Coverzones panel. It added that discussions on fresh investment capital are already underway with a number of prospective investors from both the insurance industry and investment community.

Simon Ball, former chief executive of Coverzones, said: “Being left at the altar in February had a disastrous impact on the business and left us little time to try and secure the additional capital we needed to take the business forward.

"Despite having the additional challenge of launching a business just as the world went into recession, the model was proven, and we had a number of operational enhancements ready to come on stream in 2010 to drive the business forward.

"I am delighted though that we have been able to retain all the business’ assets and intellectual property. The support we have received from our staff and our carrier partners has been astonishing, and we are now working hard to recapitalise the business and relaunch it.”