Giles handed £500m acquisition war chest

Giles Insurance Brokers has been acquired by private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners and is set to be handed a £500m acquisition war chest.

Giles’ previous private equity investor, Gresham Private Equity, has sold its minority stake as part of the deal.

It is understood chief executive Chris Giles will place up to 80% of the proceeds from the investment into the company and he is expected to retain 20% of the shares. Giles’ management and staff will control a further 15%.

The plan is to build the broker to have a gross written premium of £1bn by buying small and medium sized brokers across the UK.

It is understood that Malcolm Offord and Frank van den Bosch from Charterhouse will join the Giles board.

For the full story see this week’s Insurance Times.