Buy expands business process outsourcing provider's offering
Direct Group, a business process outsourcing provider, has acquired Millennium Insurance, a Midlands-based provider of general insurance solutions to the mortgage broker and IFA market. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
Derek Coles, chief executive of Direct Group, said: “We have examined a number of opportunities since the buyout last year and with the distribution and capability Millennium provides Direct Group this is an excellent fit.
"Millennium provides Direct Group with a front end sales proposition for our corporate and affinity customers offering a full range of general insurance products across both personal and commercial lines. It fits well with our established policy administration and in house claims management businesses allowing the group to access new markets and provide a broader range of services to both new and existing customers.”
Coles added: “This move allows us to deepen our product and service offering to both the mortgage and intermediated markets."
Steve Clowes, managing director at Millennium, added: “We can provide a one-stop solution for our business partner clients using the Millennium online trading centre or our referral service where we can undertake the regulated general insurance sale on our clients behalf, or alternatively affinity programmes where we provide a web to web link for clients customers to 'self-select' their general insurance needs on a non-advised basis.
"Working as the in house distribution vehicle for Direct Group we can provide a full set of FSA regulated broker based point of sale options with full back office support to the wider Direct Group customer base.”
Direct Group was the subject of a management buyout in August 2007 with the backing of mid-market private equity firm LDC and Barclays. The company has grown rapidly since its launch in 1990 and plans to treble in size over the next three years through a combination of acquisition and organic growth.
