UK&I leads way in European insurance M&A deals as transactions increase

The number of insurance-related merger and acquisition (M&A) activity across the UK and Ireland increased by 31% during 2023.

That was according to new figures by FTI Consulting, which revealed today (25 March 2024) that the UK and Ireland remained the “dominant forces” in the European market.

Data showed that the number of transactions surged from 177 in 2022 to 232 in 2023, with this mainly due to broker consolidation deals.

This was an improvement from figures in the consultancy firm’s report last year, which showed that the number of deals in 2022 dropped from 197 in 2021.

“The UK and Ireland continue to lead the European market for insurance industry M&A,” FTI said.

“[In 2023, there was] an increase of 31%, despite the maturity and level of consolidation of the market, suggesting that the runway is larger than anticipated. Most of these were broker consolidation deals.”

Europe

Meanwhile, FTI’s figures also revealed that M&A activity continued to increase in 2023 across Europe.

It showed that some 574 deals were announced, compared with 435 in 2022 and 379 in 2021.

And broking accounted for 87% of Europe’s deal volume in 2023, with 502 transactions being declared.

“A number of landmark transactions continued to shape the evolution of the European broking landscape,” FTI said.

“Despite speculation that valuations for brokers might have hit a peak in 2022 and could decline in 2023, several transactions made it to the finish line at high teen multiples during the year.”