Hannover Re to enter Lloyd’s with agency buy

Hannover Re S.E. is entering the Lloyd’s of London insurance market with the purchase of Argenta Holdings P.L.C., the Hanover, Germany-based reinsurer said Monday.

“For some time now we have been interested in a Lloyd’s syndicate with a view to gaining additional access to international and London Market business. We are delighted to have found an ideal partner in Argenta," Ulrich Wallin, CEO of Hannover Re said, in a statement.

Argenta owns Lloyd’s managing agent Argenta Syndicate Management Ltd. and Lloyd’s members’ agent, Argenta Private Capital Ltd.  The managing agency manages Lloyd’s Syndicate 2121, which has a stamp capacity for 2017 of £300 million ($371 million).

Syndicate 2121 focuses on short-tail property business and specialty lines. In the 2016 financial year, the syndicate booked gross written premium of £280 million ($346 million).

The members agency supplies almost £1.8 billion ($2.23 billion) of investor capacity to the Lloyd’s market, an Argenta statement said.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.