Asia Capital Re and Shenzhen Qianhai Agree Deal in Principle
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Insight and Intelligence on the 2016 Reinsurance Rendez-Vous de Septembre 14 SEPTEMBER 13 SEPTEMBER 12 SEPTEMBER 11 SEPTEMBER WEDNESDAY TUESDAY MONDAY SUNDAY Asia Capital Re and Shenzhen Qianhai agree deal in principle sia Capital Re looks set to secure biggest gathering, the broking sources said proposal at one stage, but from very early Aa $1bn sale to Chinese provincial they believed that management would still on in the process it was clear that it would government-owned entity Shenzhen be targeting full completion ahead of the be most highly prized by Chinese capital Qianhai Financial Holdings, The Insurance crucial 1 January renewals. looking for a mature vehicle that would Insider can reveal. allow it to bypass the growing pains of a Details of the proposed deal are being Underbidders start-up phase. closely guarded, but sources said that they Underbidders in the sale process, which Shenzhen Qianhai Financial Holdings is believed that an all-cash transaction valuing was superintended by Morgan Stanley, are a state-owned financial holding company Singapore’s biggest reinsurer at 1.25x-1.3x understood to have included Hong Kong- founded by the authority of the Qianhai trailing book value had already been agreed listed property and finance business Mason Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service in principle, with an announcement believed Financial, Sirius owner China Minsheng Industry Cooperation Zone. to be imminent. Investment and Chinese conglomerate The state-owned vehicle has already It is understood that the price and terms Fosun. concluded a joint venture with HSBC to enter for the $791mn-equity business have been Most observers in the sector will consider the banking space, and is believed to have negotiated, with financing for the deal in the valuation a rich multiple for the other interests or prospects in insurance and place. c.$750mn-premium business which has asset management. Broking sources speculated that the delay failed to deliver a return for its financial in the announcement of the proposed backers in the decade since its inception. Strategic bidder transaction may reflect the need for some However, since Fosun founded Peak Re Having had its operations overshadowed Asian regulators to grant approval for parties in 2013, reinsurance assets have become at times by question marks about the to formally agree an M&A deal. increasingly sought after in and around intentions of its consortium of financial Throughout the formal auction process, China, with a flurry of new reinsurers backers, Shenzhen Qianhai Financial will ACR has stressed in private discussions including Asia Pacific Re and China Taiping mark a shift for the firm given its long-term with clients that it would look to resolve Re founded, and other Chinese money interest in maintaining exposure to the the question of its ownership ahead of seeking access to the space via the takeover space. the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, with an of western businesses. Shenzhen Qianhai Financial is one of the announcement originally scheduled to take ACR did attract interest from western founding investors in Chinese reinsurer place during the summer. (re)insurers keen to build their market Qianhai Re, providing 20 percent of its 3bn And, although the deal may not have been presence in Singapore, with Hannover Re inked in time for the reinsurance industry’s understood to have made an indicative Continued on page 3 04 Cyber JV 08 Zurich 19 Honours Neon and Barbican's White Carrier looks to protect The Insurance Insider celebrates its launch cyber venture against earnings volatility fifth annual awards at Old Billingsgate INSIDE 06 RSA 13 M&A 29 Casualty First bids on the table The market comments on Reinsurers look for further for legacy book deal potential for 2016 stabilisation at 1 January PROFIT FROM We are challenging current assumptions, maximizing A SMARTER reinsurance and building stronger capital models. CAPITAL STRATEGY MC_Day 1.indb 1 10/09/2016 13:35 Bringing Clarity To Complexity Barbican has been delivering consistency, reliability and value CASUALTY for clients and brokers since 2007. Underwriting across a CONTINGENCY & MEDIA broad spectrum of business classes, our reputation for being a CYBER, TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA professional and approachable underwriter is well established. ENERGY Developing comprehensive and often unique insurance and FIN PRO reinsurance solutions for even the most challenging risks, our HEALTHCARE experience, underwriting acumen, responsiveness and fresh MALICIOUS ACTS thinking make the difference. MARINE, AVIATION & TRANSPORT PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY PROPERTY SPACE www.barbicaninsurance.com Connect with us MC_DayRubix Advert 1.indb Sept15-AW.indd 2 1 10/09/201605/09/2016 13:3515:12 COMMENT A Hit! ho would have thought it? It turns Hamilton has a capacity problem. A nation and vice versa. Hamilton is likely to be one Wout the worlds of theatre and of more than 300 million wants to see it and of those shows and if it does that it will reinsurance have many similarities. only a few thousand a week can physically become a global brand. Once everyone in Both are businesses involving high levels get in to enjoy the show. How about that for the world has had a chance to see it, either of volatility, risk and finite amounts of rationing supply? in person, or live-streamed to a movie capacity. It is surely no coincidence then, Hamilton needs more capacity and it is in theatre, a movie version will be made and that they both also have major global the process of scaling up. There is a Chicago everyone will go to see it again, buy the centres in New York and London. branch, a tour is planned and a London souvenir DVD and watch it a third time on There is clearly something about these production is coming in October 2017. Amazon Prime or Netflix. places that allows risk businesses to be Does any of this sound familiar? It might This is distribution at its sweetest and puts financed. And of course, it has always been the creativity of even our best and most the wealthiest in the business community The truest definition of an ingenious global brokers in the shade. that have been the biggest patrons of “ Reinsurers are currently off Broadway, or the arts – almost any major exhibition or ultra-hard market is when on the fringe waiting the be rediscovered. refurbishment of a historic venue is heavily even good customers are There are some interesting experimental sponsored by a global corporate or a major having to be turned away productions being cooked up there. Of business tycoon. We were made for each or have their orders only these original works, some will fail, but other. some will rise the be the next Phantoms of Take Hamilton, a new musical set in the partially placed the Opera, Les Mis and Hamiltons of their American revolution. It is setting new ” day. records on Broadway and has wiped the not, because we in the reinsurance business What every producer off Broadway or on floor at the prestigious Tony awards. It is may have forgotten this, but there are times the London fringe does is dream big and in the hardest market imaginable. Go to that just like a hit show, our capacity cannot never give up - and that’s what reinsurers Hamilton the Musical’s website and try and be accessed for neither love nor money. need to remember to keep doing. buy a ticket – you can’t. The truest definition of an ultra-hard For just as every man needs entertainment And I’m not just talking the cheaper seats market is when even good customers are and enlightenment, he also needs – and I use that term loosely because the having to be turned away or have their insurance. cheapest face value ticket for the show is an orders only partially placed. eye-popping $139 and prices rise to more Like in insurance, in theatre a show isn’t a than $500 for the best views. global hit unless it is running simultaneously There isn’t even any pre-booking to 2017 on Broadway and in London’s West End. A Mark Geoghegan, or beyond. The only way of buying a face big enough hit on either side of the Atlantic Managing Director, The Insurance Insider value ticket is by entering a lottery for the will nearly always transfer successfully. Think chance to pick up returns. of London as a massive sidecar to New York [email protected] yuan ($449mn) capital base for the start-up, Shenzhen Qianhai Financial seems to fit deliver a return for its shareholders. In the which secured regulatory approval in March. into the other category of Chinese buyer, as nine month to 31 December 2015, following Other backers include China Post Group and a cash-rich state entity with access to major an accounting period change, the firm investment firm SZ Capital. backing if it can find the right opportunities. delivered a negative return on equity of 1.4 Until late last year there was a perception The Insurance Insider revealed in April that percent. This compares to a return on equity that Chinese money would make very rapid ACR’s owners had appointed Morgan Stanley of 3.0 percent in 2013/14 and 2.4 percent in inroads into the specialty insurance and to run a formal sales process after informal 2014/15. The business also endured a torrid reinsurance space internationally, as other attempts to offload the business in the 2011 as rating pressure in the wake of an conglomerates looked to follow the trail previous autumn came to nothing. outsized loss from severe flooding in Thailand blazed by Fosun and Angbang. The auction process was launched less than forced it to raise an additional $200mn of However, since the temporary six months after the ACR board parachuted equity.