Aviva has completed the £249 million acquisition of Probitas’ fully-integrated Lloyd’s platform, encompassing its corporate member, managing agent, international distribution entities, and tenancy rights to Syndicate 1492. The deal, first announced on 4 March, sees the insurer re-enter the Lloyd’s market after the firm closed its CGNU Global Risks and sold its Lloyd’s managing agency Marlborough to the Berkshire Hathaway Group in 2000. The company says the Lloyd’s market represents a major source of untapped growth for Aviva, offering access to significant in-appetite premium volumes, international licences and broader distribution networks. It will also allow Aviva to capitalise on its existing underwriting capabilities, broker relationships, and capital base. The firm adds that given Probitas’s focus on specialty lines, the transaction represents a unique opportunity for Aviva to enter the Lloyd’s market via a business that is well-aligned with Aviva’s strategy in terms of product, geography, and risk profile. Probitas’ Syndicate 1492 reported a gross written premium of £288 million in 2023 and has delivered a 21 per cent compound annual growth rate since 2019. Amanda Blanc, group chief executive officer at Aviva, remarks: “This acquisition is another step in our strategy to invest in Aviva’s future profitable growth. Aviva’s presence in the Lloyd’s market opens up new opportunities to accelerate growth in our capital-light general insurance business.” Ash Bathia, Chief Executive Officer of Probitas, says: “As Probitas embarks on the next stage of its evolution, it was important to find a partner with the financial strength and commitment to enable Probitas to optimise its potential and ambition to significantly scale up and diversify the business”.
