RenaissanceRe to Buy Minority Stake in Run-Off Firm Catalina Holdings

RenaissanceRe will pick up a minority stake in Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd., a long-term manager of legacy runoff P/C insurance and reinsurance businesses.

Neither side is disclosing financial terms. RenaissanceRe will pursue the investment through its subsidiary RenaissanceRe Ventures Ltd.

The closing is subject to regulatory approval and will take place at the same time Apollo Global Management concludes its own majority acquisition of Catalina. Apollo and its affiliate inked a deal to buy a majority stake in Catalina in October 2017.

Renaissance Re said that its investment will help give Catalina strategic benefits and help the business explore a wider range of transaction structures as it grows.

“We’re delighted to welcome RenaissanceRe as shareholders in Catalina,” Catalina CEO Chris Fagan said in prepared remarks. “They join us at a time of significant opportunity to help us capitalize on the continued growth of the non-life legacy sector.”

Catalina first launched in 2005. Since then, it has completed 24 transactions acquiring $5.6 billion of non-life insurance and reinsurance liabilities. As of Sept. 30, 2017, it had $3.6 billion in total assets and $719 million in shareholders’ equity.

Catalina, with 180 employees, maintains offices in Bermuda, Dublin, Denver, Hartford, London, New York and Pfaffikon, Switzerland. RenaissanceRe, launched in 1993, has offices in Bermuda, Ireland, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Source: Catalina Holdings, RenaissanceRe

This article first appeared in Insurance Journal’s sister publication, Carrier Management.