Admiral completes acquisition of RSA’s direct personal lines operations

Admiral has completed its acquisition of RSA’s direct home and pet renewal rights for £82.5m.

The deal, which was announced in December 2023, includes the purchase of the More Than brand and the transfer of 300 employees.

While the sale price stood at £82.5m, Admiral said there was potential for a further payment of up to £32.5m, subject to the fulfilment of certain retention thresholds. 

Policies will start renewing from Q3 2024 – the deal does not include liabilities relating to existing policies, which will remain with RSA.

Ken Norgrove, chief executive of RSA UK&I, said: “More Than has been an important part of the RSA family for 23 years and I’m confident our colleagues will be warmly welcomed at Admiral and looked after for many years to come.

“I would like to thank our people for all they have done for our customers and business and I don’t doubt that they will become great assets to Admiral in the future.”

Strategy

This came after RSA previously indicated that it was potentially looking to exit the personal lines market.

In March 2023, the insurer announced its exit from the motor market and, following its acquisition of Direct Line Group’s (DLG) brokered commercial lines operations in September, noted that it was exploring strategic options with respect to RSA’s UK personal lines business – including a sale.

Admiral said the acquisition was “closely aligned” to its strategy to diversify its product offering and build multi-product customer relationships in its core markets.

Milena Mondini de Focatiis, chief executive of Admiral, said: “We are accelerating our diversification strategy, as well as enhancing our existing capabilities in risk selection and claims management to help even more people to look after their future.

“Our leadership team have enjoyed visiting our new colleagues at RSA and I am looking forward to personally welcoming them to our Admiral family.”