Having grown from a company with revenues of £4.2 million in 2006 to £22.9 million in 2012, the management team of Simply Business are leading a buy-out of the firm.
Set up by parent company Xbridge in 2005, Simply Business is an online broker for commercial insurance. It uses technology to provide policies tailored to individual business requirements.
The management team is being led by CEO Jason Stockwood, a former executive at Travelocity, Lastminite.com and Match.coom, who joined Simply Business in 2010.
Stockwood comments, ‘We have laid down the gauntlet to the commercial insurance industry in recent years, combining home grown infrastructure and innovative products to place the customer at the heart of the business.
‘The management buy-out enables us to build on this success, accelerating our growth aspirations and vision for the future, while continuing to innovate and challenge the traditional industry model.’
Through the deal, AnaCap and the management team of Simply Business will be acquiring a 100 per cent stake in the company.
London-based AnaCap invests in European financial services businesses with what it describes as ‘strong, highly motivated management teams’, and has £1.7 billion under management across private equity and credit opportunities vehicles.
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According to a statement, the ‘addressable’ UK market covers 4.8 million small businesses – meaning £3 billion of gross written premiums. Simply Business and AnaCap forecast the online element of the figure to grow at more than 25 per cent a year due to customers switching to internet-based purchasing of insurance products.
Peter Cartwright, co-managing partner at AnaCap, adds, ‘This is a rare opportunity to support the management buy-out of a clear market leader in a fast-growing niche of the insurance industry.
‘The management team and staff have done an outstanding job of growing Simply Business over the past eight years and we look forward to working with Jason and his team to meet and exceed their ambitious plans for the future.’
