Private equity investment is taking a grip on the market and broker Hyperion is one of many firms that have sold a stake in return for capital.
Underwriting agency Dual International, a division of the Hyperion Insurance Group, is hoping to benefit from the investment in its parent company by private equity firm 3i, understood to be £50m, by continuing its global expansion.
Its main target now it seems is to build its presence in the American insurance market. It is already well represented around Europe and across Australia, but DUAL executive chairman Stephen Crowther has made it the company's aim to enter the US market in the next three years by way of acquisition.
He said the business will look for an acquisition in America that will act as a hub and from which it can expand.
Crowther is not the only boss to admit intentions in the US. Last month, Towergate executive chairman Peter Cullum revealed similar growth plans, admitting that the consolidator would be interested in making two or three acquisitions on the managed general agent (MGA) side. Earlier this month, he sold a £100m stake in the business to US hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group.
With firms now keen to use private equity backing to invest in new opportunities in new markets, more UK based companies could soon be heading to foreign shores.
This week, DUAL opened an office in Hong Kong, which was subsequently Hyperion's first initiative since the 3I investment.
Crowther said Hong Kong is a growing market. "There will be, over the next five or 10 years, a number of big corporations there to buy D&O," he said. "We are in the region for the long haul."
However, he said the group would have to consider a number of factors before entering a new market. "Finding the right people and finding the right market place that has got an appetite is important," he said. "It is about finding the right combination for reasonable profit."
With private equity backing, brokers and insurers can begin tapping in to profit streams outside of the UK, and it could not be long until more are realising their global ambitions.
