By Erik Holm
Lightyear Capital LLC, the private-equity firm founded by former
Paine Webber Chairman Donald Marron, said on Monday one of its
funds agreed to take a large stake in insurance broker Cooper Gay
Swett & Crawford Ltd.
CGSC will use the capital raised in the deal to fund its
continued expansion, the broker said in a statement on its
website.
Lightyear said it had combined with unnamed additional investors
to take a controlling stake in CGSC. Terms of the deal weren't
disclosed.
The broker, formed in 2010 with the combination of London-based
Cooper Gay with Swett & Crawford of Atlanta, specializes in
hard-to-place insurance in sectors including mining, aerospace and
engineering. It took in revenue of $344 million as it placed $3.5
billion in premiums last year.
Lightyear, which invests in financial services companies through
three private-equity funds, also owns stakes in Lloyds of London
underwriter Antares Holdings Ltd., Houston International Insurance
Group and Bermuda catastrophe reinsurer Flagstone Reinsurance
Holdings Ltd. (FSR).
Flagstone is in the process of selling itself to Validus
Holdings Ltd. (VR) for about $645 million, a significant discount
to its $1.1 billion market capitalization at its 2007 initial
public offering.
Lightyear previously owned U.S. crop insurer NAU Country
Insurance Co., which it sold in 2010.
Lightyear was founded 12 years ago by Mr. Marron, who serves as
the firm's chairman and a member of the investment committee. Mr.
Marron was chairman and chief executive at Paine Webber Group Inc.
for 20 years until it was acquired by UBS AG (UBSN.VX) in 2000.
The CGSC transaction is expected to close by the end of the
year.
Write to Erik Holm at erik.holm@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires