Steadfast eyeing Insurance House parent 'for quite some time', Kelly says

Steadfast Group is set to take ownership tomorrow of Insurance Brands Australia (IBA), the parent company of independent Melbourne-based brokerage Insurance House and other intermediary businesses with a combined $438 million in annual gross written premium (GWP).

CEO Robert Kelly says Steadfast has been looking to acquire IBA “for quite some time”, having previously made an unsuccessful approach for the privately-owned intermediary before the opportunity came up this year, when IBA launched a competitive process for a buyer.

“If opportunities come along, we will be an acquirer if they fit our criteria and there’s not a lot of businesses of the size of IBA,” Mr Kelly told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

He says IBA MD Jay Fereday and his team have been doing a “good job” running the business and that “it’s appealing for us to buy something with top level executives”.

As reported last week, Steadfast has entered into an agreement to buy IBA for $301 million. Steadfast will pay an initial $276 million for IBA comprising of both cash and Steadfast scrip, with the remaining $25 million subject to meeting performance criteria this financial year.

Steadfast says the transaction is expected to complete tomorrow.

The IBA acquisition is Steadfast’s largest since it forked out $411.5 million for Coverforce about a year ago.

“We look for well-run business,” Mr Kelly said of Steadfast’s acquisition strategy. “And we want to make sure that we enhance the businesses so we will work alongside them, to help them, not to take over the running of the business.”

Mr Fereday told insuranceNEWS.com.au the process for a buyer was launched just before June 30, and the offer from Steadfast was the “most competitive”.

“What Steadfast has invested into is a continued growth story that Insurance Brands Australia represents,” Mr Fereday said.

Established in 1983, IBA has about 70 locations across the country and its businesses are predominantly focused on the SME sector. Other key intermediaries IBA owns include underwriting agencies ProRisk and Armada Underwriting.

Mr Fereday says the IBA management team and operating structure will remain the same after Steadfast takes ownership of the business.

“The conversation internally is same faces and same places,” Mr Fereday told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “We keep our chairman, myself as MD, the senior leadership team remains the same, there’s no change to our market-facing brands, [and] no change to our corporate structure.”