AnaCap Financial to exit Simply Business

AnaCap Financial Partners said April 11 that it sold Simply Business to Aquiline Capital Partners. Financial terms weren’t announced by AnaCap said the sale would generate 4.5x its investment. London-based Simply Business insures more than 350,000 businesses and landlords across the U.K.

PRESS RELEASE

AnaCap Financial Partners (“AnaCap”), the specialist European financial services
private equity firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Simply Business, the UK’s
leading digital SME insurance distributor, to Aquiline Capital Partners. The
transaction is subject to completion upon change of control approval from the
Financial Conduct Authority and is expected to complete in this summer. The exit
comes just short of 3 years since the initial investment and will generate a return of
4.5 times AnaCap’s investment.
Established in 2005, Simply Business was among the earliest online brokers in the
commercial insurance industry. Since AnaCap’s investment in 2013, the company,
led by CEO Jason Stockwood, has disrupted the market through the innovative use of
technology, simplifying the process of buying small business insurance whilst
consistently delivering excellent underwriting performance to its insurance
partners.
Simply Business now insures more than 350,000 businesses and landlords across
the UK. Revenues have grown by 75% over the past three years, with double digit
growth in new business policies and greatly improved renewal rates (close to 80%),
while Ebitda has risen fivefold, benefitting from operating leverage.
It has been a Sunday Times “Tech Track 100” company for the past 3 years and was
recently named in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and
Africa). For the past two years the company has also featured in The Times’ Best 100
Companies to Work For, winning the award the first time in 2015.
Tassilo Arnhold, a Director at AnaCap, commented:
“When we acquired Simply Business we saw a rare opportunity to support the
management buyout of a digital disruptor in a fast-growing segment of the
insurance industry. Together, we have delivered exceptional growth and a great
return for our investors, and we wish Jason and his team well as they move into the
next exciting phase of their growth with Aquiline.”
Jason Stockwood, CEO of Simply Business, said:
“Since day one, innovation has been at the heart of what we do at Simply Business.
Over the past three years we have transformed our customer conversion and
retention rates, driven by the installation of a pricing analytics engine, and have become the first commercial insurance broker in the UK to deploy real time pricing.
We would like to thank AnaCap wholeheartedly for their support and guidance
during this enormously successful period.”
-ENDS