Open GI and Powerplace complete £300m+ MBO
Pictured: Chris Guillaume, Group CEO
Leading insurance solutions provider, Open GI and its sister company, Powerplace, today announced the completion of the deal with Montagu Private Equity LLP (“Montagu”) following approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
An initial agreement was reached by the management team of Open International Ltd, the Group holding company of Open GI, Open GI London and Powerplace, to acquire the businesses from its private shareholders in August 2014 with the backing of Montagu, one of Europe’s longest established private equity firms.
The deal sees Peter Cullum and a group of other private shareholders fully exit from the business and the existing management team, led by Chris Guillaume, Group CEO, grow their equity stake.
Chris Guillaume, Group CEO, Open International, commented:
“Our business has demonstrated significant, positive growth during the last 7 years, but to take us to the next phase new investment was required. We considered a number of options, including flotation, and were in the fortunate position where choices were available to us. We are delighted with our new partners, Montagu, and this deal creates a new capital structure for the business providing a clear, medium-to-long term horizon in which to implement a range of new strategies to drive further growth.”
Edward Shuckburgh, Director, Montagu Private Equity LLP, added:
“We’re delighted to be reunited with the team at Open International, following our original participation in 2006. It’s a business that has demonstrated consistent growth and profitability for a number of years, through market-leading innovation led by a strong management team. We look forward to assisting in the continued success of the business.”
For more information about Open GI:
Helen Andrews
Group Head of Marketing & PR
Email: helen.andrews@www.opengi.ie
Notes to Editors:
Open GI is the leading technology partner to general insurance brokers in the UK and Irish markets. Its Core broking platform provides multi-line, multi-channel, multi-brand trading capability complemented by innovative ecommerce and mobile technologies. Open GI is part of the Open International Group alongside sister companies PowerPlace, Open GI London and Blue Fire Communications.
