HELIOS UNDERWRITING PLC

M&A Activity • Jul 9, 2014

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

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RNS Number : 7896L

Helios Underwriting Plc

09 July 2014

9 July 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 Dumasco Limited, a limited liability member of Lloyd's ("LLV") for a total consideration of £2.5 million in cash.  The 2014 underwriting capacity of the LLV is £1.5 million; this compares with HUW's 2014 capacity of £21.3 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 Paul Lumbis - Chief Financial Officer	020 7863 6655 / nigel.hanbury@huwplc.com 020 7863 6657 / paul.lumbis@huwplc.com
Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance David Jones	020 7131 4000
Westhouse Securities Robert Finlay Darren Vickers	020 7601 6100
Haggie Partners Peter Rigby	020 7562 4444

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 £21 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

Dumasco Limited ("Dumasco") is a limited liability member of Lloyd's which HUW has agreed to acquire from Henry and Marina Dumas; in the year ended 31 December 2013, Dumasco made a profit before tax of £0.28 million on gross premiums written of £1.3 million.  Dumasco's expected net asset value at completion is approximately £3.2 million including an estimated market value of underwriting capacity of £0.5 million.

Set out below is Dumasco's 2011 closed year of account result and 2012 and 2013 open years of account forecasts:

YOA	Dumasco syndicate capacity (£'000)	Current forecast of syndicate profit* (31 March 2014)
Mid point (£'000)	Mid point (%)	Range (%)
2011	1,436	94	6.58%	N/A
2012	1,469	91	6.20%	3.23 - 9.16%
2013	1,519	94	6.17%	2.20 - 10.15%

Source: Syndicate data and HUW analysis

* For 2011 this is the YOA result

Set out below are details of Dumasco's syndicate participations for the 2011 to 2014 years of account:

YOA	2011		2012		2013			2014
Syndicate	(£'000)	(%)*	(£'000)	(%)*	(£'000)	(%)*		(£'000)	(%)*
218	258	18.0%	232	15.8%	232	15.3%	232		15.7%
510	569	39.6%	622	42.4%	622	41.0%	622		42.2%
2791	571	39.8%	571	38.9%	571	37.6%	503		34.1%
6103	38	2.6%	43	2.9%	43	2.8%	32		2.2%
6104	-	-	-	-	50	3.3%	50		3.4%
6105	-	-	-	-	-	-	36		2.4%
Total	1,436	100.0%	1,469	100.0%	1,519	100.0%		1,476	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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