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Runoff specialist acquires captive insurer

Posted On: Jan. 5, 2017 1:05 PM CST

R&Q Insurance (Malta) Ltd. on Thursday said it has acquired the captive insurer of Swiss specialty chemical company Clariant A.G. as it continues to capitalize on Solvency II-related business opportunities.

R&Q acquired the entire issued share capital of Clariant Insurance A.G., which was formed in 2005 as the Liechtenstein-registered captive insurer for Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant. The captive, which ceased active underwriting in 2015, primarily underwrote the high layer excess products and general liability protections for the Clariant worldwide group, R&Q said in a statement. 

The captive is being relocated to Malta, where it will become the group’s second European runoff consolidator, operating under the name R&Q Insurance (Europe) Ltd. The first European runoff consolidator, which brings in other portfolios of business by transfer, reinsurance or merger, is also based in Malta. 

“We are delighted to have entered into an agreement to acquire Clariant Insurance,” Ken Randall, chairman and CEO of London-based Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings Ltd., R&Q’s parent company, said in a statement. “This is a further demonstration of R&Q’s capability of working with corporate captive owners to dispose of captive insurers that are no longer required for their business. It is one of a number of current transactions we are assessing where a corporate parent is looking to dispose of their legacy captive which is subject to implementation of Solvency II.”

The company has already pursued acquisitions driven by the European Union’s Solvency II directive outlining a risk-based capital regime for insurers and reinsurers in Europe. In November 2015, it acquired FNF Title Insurance Co. Ltd., a Malta-based subsidiary of Fidelity National Title Group that was licensed in 2012 and wrote business in the United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic before ceasing underwriting in 2014. R&Q cited Solvency II as a main driver of that transaction at the time, according to a statement.