Brit Insurance announces investment in Xbridge

Brit Insurance Holdings PLC ("Brit Insurance" or "The Group"), the UK-based international general insurance and reinsurance group, today announces an investment of £7m in Xbridge giving Brit Insurance a 38% interest in the business.
June 11, 2008


Xbridge is the United Kingdom's leading online insurance and finance technology platform specialising in owner-managed businesses, whose flagship brand "Simply Business" enables business owners to compare multiple business insurance quotes on-line and then buy in minutes.

The investment builds on an already successful relationship; Brit Insurance is already a major partner of Xbridge and has generated significant revenues since March 2007.

An additional loan facility will enable Xbridge to continue to develop their leading edge technology and marketing strategy.

Xbridge launched their comparative quote and buy insurance platform in July 2005, and to date have achieved premium volumes in excess of £15m and continue to grow at a significant rate.

Dane Douetil, Chief Executive of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC, commented:

"On-line technology is the key to servicing the micro SME market, where the high volumes and relatively small contract sizes do not fit well with the traditional face to face models of broking and underwriting. This is an area of our business where we see some fantastic opportunities for growth in coming years."

Peter Burrows, Chief Executive of Brit UK, commented:

"A growth rate of over 40% a year for the last two years is a clear endorsement for their unique ability to quote and bind insurance from a panel of insurers. Their first class execution combined with a strong management team and successful distribution makes a compelling proposition for our customers."

Tony Deacon, Chief Executive of Xbridge, commented:

"Having successfully grown the company over the past few years, we were looking to step up our market presence and we passionately believe that the strong relationship that we have built with Brit Insurance provides an excellent foundation for this. The completion of this deal means that we now have a key strategic partnership in place to help drive our business forward."

-ENDS-

Enquiries
Carne Curgenven, Brit Insurance Holdings PLC
020 7984 8500

Peter Rigby/Juliet Tilley, Haggie Financial
020 7417 8989

Daryl Newman / Claire Mason
daryl@manbitesdog.biz / claire@manbitesdog.biz
Man Bites Dog - 01273 763 911
(Xbridge) - 0844 561 1416

Notes to Editors
About Brit Insurance
Brit Insurance's operations comprise three strategic business units: Brit Global Markets, Brit Reinsurance and Brit UK. All three have access to the two regulatory vehicles through which Brit Insurance underwrites: Brit Insurance Limited which is a UK FSA regulated insurance company and Lloyd's syndicate 2987 which is managed by Brit Syndicates Limited. Brit Insurance has UK underwriting offices in London, Reading, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Darlington, Ilford and Manchester.
www.britinsurance.com

About Xbridge
Xbridge is the UK's leading online comparative and purchasing facility for business finance and insurance. Started in 2000, it grew out of Xbridge's Decision Finance business portal. Xbridge is the UK's leading B2B online financial services company offering consulting, build and integration services to many of the UK best known financial brands, including Simply Business. Xbridge Ltd is authorised and regulated by the FSA.
www.xbridge.com

About the micro SME Market
The micro SME market comprises of organisations with less than 10 employees. There are over 4 million businesses in this sector, generating around £900bn in turnover and £7bn of insurance premium. The average premium is £1,500.
 
Back To News

Search

Advanced Search
 
News Archive 2008   2007   2006   2005   2004   2003   2002   2001   2000   1999  
Sign up for Brit Alerts