White Mountains to Sell NSM to Carlyle
White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM) (“White Mountains”) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell NSM Insurance Group (“NSM”) to investment funds affiliated with global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG). The transaction values NSM at $1.775 billion.
White Mountains expects the transaction will result in a gain of approximately $280 to its adjusted book value per share and will increase undeployed capital from approximately $0.4 billion to approximately $1.7 billion.
“The NSM team has done a tremendous job building a market-leading specialty insurance distribution platform. It has been our pleasure to partner with them along the way,” said Manning Rountree, Chief Executive Officer of White Mountains. “This transaction is a win for both White Mountains shareholders and NSM management and employees. We want to thank Geof, Bill, Marc, Jonathan and the entire NSM team for all of their hard work. NSM is well positioned going forward, and we wish them continued success.”
“We thank Manning, Morgan, Chris and the rest of the White Mountains team for their valuable contributions and support throughout our partnership,” said Geof McKernan, Chief Executive Officer of NSM. “Together, we achieved strong organic growth, completed six strategic acquisitions, added high quality talent and built a specialized, diversified and scaled insurance distribution platform. We could not be happier with this outcome and are excited to partner with Carlyle as we embark on NSM’s next stage of growth.”
“Leveraging Carlyle’s deep experience supporting companies in the insurance services sector, we are thrilled to partner with NSM’s exceptional founder-led management team to help the business execute numerous upside growth drivers, including continued operational improvement, accretive M&A opportunities, and strategic investments in technology and data & analytics,” said John Redett, Head of Global Financial Services at Carlyle.
The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2022. The closing is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The closing is not subject to a financing condition.
White Mountains will file a current report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission containing a summary of terms and conditions of the proposed transaction.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP served as legal counsel, to White Mountains and NSM. Holland & Knight LLP also acted as legal advisor to NSM management. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal advisor to Carlyle.
About NSM Insurance Group
NSM is a full-service MGA and program administrator for specialty property & casualty insurance. The company places insurance in niche sectors such as specialty transportation, social services, real estate and pet. On behalf of its insurance carrier partners, NSM typically manages all aspects of the placement process, including product development, marketing, underwriting, policy issuance and claims. For more information, visit www.nsminc-2021-staging.aoazats1-liquidwebsites.com.
About White Mountains
White Mountains is a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM. Additional financial information and other items of interest are available at the Company’s web site located at www.whitemountains.com.
About Carlyle
Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $325 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2022, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs nearly 1,900 people in 26 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.