Executive Summary
Welcome to our first report on mergers and acquisitions
(M&A) activity in the global insurance underwriting market.
Based on data supplied for completed transactions between January
2009 and June 2011 by Thomson Reuters, our corporate insurance
specialists around the world have put together a review of key
trends and activity in their regions.
Overall, as with other sectors in the financial services
industry, strategic M&A activity within insurance went into
decline in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. With
economies in recession and balance sheets depleted, management were
keen to avoid any activity – particularly M&A
– that might threaten or create uncertainty over capital
positions. Even when good opportunities were identified, many fell
at the first hurdle either due to a lack of available funding or a
mismatch in pricing expectations between buyers and sellers.
