HELIOS UNDERWRITING PLC

M&A Activity • Dec 19, 2014

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

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RNS Number : 3639A

Helios Underwriting Plc

19 December 2014

19 December 2014

Helios Underwriting plc

("HUW" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Lloyd's Limited Liability Vehicle

HUW is pleased to announce that, in line with its strategy of increasing underwriting capacity through acquisition, it has agreed to acquire Nameco (No 311) Limited, a limited liability member of Lloyd's ("LLV") for a total consideration of £1.0 million in cash.  The 2014 underwriting capacity of the LLV is £1.0 million; this compares with HUW's 2014 capacity of £22.8 million prior to this acquisition.  Completion is subject to change of control consent from Lloyd's.  The LLV participates in a spread of Lloyd's syndicates broadly similar to HUW's own participation.

Commenting upon the acquisition, Nigel Hanbury, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are delighted to have agreed a further LLV acquisition which will further increase our underwriting capacity.  This is in line with our stated strategy of acquiring corporate members as suitable opportunities arise.  We continue to believe that there remain significant opportunities for further growth available to the Company."

For further information please contact:

HUW Nigel Hanbury - Chief Executive	020 7863 6655 / nigel.hanbury@huwplc.com
Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance David Jones	020 7131 4000
Westhouse Securities Robert Finlay	020 7601 6100

About HUW

HUW provides a limited liability direct investment into the Lloyd's insurance market and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market (ticker: HUW).  HUW's subsidiary underwriting vehicles trade within the Lloyd's insurance market as corporate members of Lloyd's writing approximately £23 million of capacity for the 2014 account. The portfolio provides a good spread of classes of business being concentrated in property insurance and reinsurance. For further information please visit www.huwplc.com.

Additional information

Nameco (No 311) Limited ("Nameco 311") is a limited liability member of Lloyd's which HUW has agreed to acquire from the Executors of John Clegg; in the year ended 31 December 2013, Nameco 311 made a profit before tax of £0.1 million on gross premiums written of £0.8 million.  Nameco 311's expected net asset value at completion is approximately £1.0 million, including underwriting capacity with an estimated market value of £0.3 million.

Set out below are Nameco 311's 2012 and 2013 open years of account forecasts:

YOA	Nameco 311 syndicate capacity (£'000)	Forecast of syndicate profit (30 September 2014)
Mid point (£'000)	Mid point (%)	Range (%)
2012	895	92	10.23%	7.40 - 13.06%
2013	952	71	7.47%	3.60 - 11.34%

Source: Syndicate data and HUW analysis

Set out below are details of Nameco 311's syndicate participations for the 2012 to 2014 years of account:

YOA	2012		2013			2014
Syndicate	(£'000)	(%)*	(£'000)	(%)*		(£'000)	(%)*
33	73	8.1%	73	7.7%	77		7.6%
218	49	5.5%	49	5.1%	49		4.8%
386	33	3.6%	33	3.4%	33		3.2%
510	153	17.1%	154	16.2%	154		15.3%
557	10	1.1%	8	0.9%	8		0.8%
609	72	8.1%	73	7.7%	74		7.3%
623	84	9.4%	88	9.3%	95		9.4%
727	8	0.9%	8	0.9%	8		0.8%
958	34	3.8%	26	2.7%	21		2.0%
1176	13	1.4%	13	1.3%	13		1.3%
1200	41	4.6%	41	4.3%	41		4.1%
1729	-	-	-	-	19		1.9%
2010	31	3.5%	31	3.2%	31		3.1%
2014	-	-	-	-	55		5.5%
2525	5	0.5%	5	0.5%	5		0.4%
2526	2	0.2%	2	0.2%	-		-
2791	165	18.5%	165	17.4%	145		14.4%
4242	14	1.6%	14	1.5%	14		1.4%
5820	-	-	34	3.6%	28		2.8%
6103	10	1.1%	13	1.3%	9		0.9%
6104	10	1.1%	13	1.4%	13		1.3%
6105	8	0.9%	5	0.5%	15		1.5%
6106	10	1.1%	11	1.2%	-		-
6107	10	1.1%	13	1.3%	13		1.2%
6110	22	2.4%	39	4.1%	-		-
6111	38	4.3%	42	4.4%	44		4.4%
6117	-	-	-	-	45		4.4%
Total	895	100.0%	952	100.0%	1,009		100.0%

* Percentage of total syndicate portfolio

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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