CBL buys insurance firm in Oz

The purchase price for Assetinsure would be settled through a mix of shares and cash. Photo / Thinkstock

NZ-based company tipped for a possible float pays $46m for specialist Assetinsure.

New Zealand-based credit surety and financial risk insurer CBL Insurance, which has been tipped as a possible candidate for an initial public offer and float, has bought Australian specialty insurer Assetinsure Holdings for $46 million.

The transaction is expected to settle by next month but the purchase has gone unconditional following CBL being granted approval for the transaction by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the company said.

Assetinsure was an important strategic step towards increasing CBL's business in Australia, said CBL managing director Peter Harris.

"We can now distribute products in Australia through an APRA-regulated entity, and we can also introduce certain Assetinsure products and relationships into our existing international markets," Harris said.

Assetinsure is the largest surety bond insurer in Australia, and provides a range of speciality products including credit enhancement, surety bonds, specialised property insurance, aviation and rural risk from its three offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

In 2012 CBL acquired from Vero the Deposit Power business - a market leader in Australia in the provision of property deposit bonds, which are used by property buyers as a deposit in buying a property.

"Currently our business is strongly weighted to Europe, accounting for more than 70 per cent of the business written by the company, and we expect the purchase of Assetinsure to go some way to addressing this," Harris said.

The purchase price for Assetinsure would be settled through a mix of shares and cash.

CBL, which is majority-owned by Harris and CBL director, Alistair Hutchinson, has been operating for more than 42 years. It is chaired by Sir John Wells, who is also chairman of Fisher Funds Management and Auckland Council Property.

The company has been mentioned in investment banking circles as a possible candidate for an initial public offer. So far this year there has been just one NZX listing - freight and logistics company Fliway - compared with 16 last year. A financial market source said the company was close to registering its documents for the offer, which is estimated to raise about $140 million.

In April, CBL said its premium income came to $242 million last year, up 14 per cent compared with the previous year, generating a 38 per cent jump in operating profit before tax to $36 million. The company said then that it had appointed UBS and Bancorp to assist it with its growth plans, including its intentions in Australia.

CBL, headquartered in Auckland, is an international group writing business in 25 countries and has more than 100 employees working out of eight offices spread over four continents.

Late last year, it successfully raised A$55 million through a secured debt offer - mainly to Australian investors - to provide additional working capital.

This year, CBL entered into a conditional agreement to buy a 35 per cent holding in Afianzadora Fiducia to expand its presence in Mexico.