24/11/2015

SALE OF TENNYSON INSURANCE

The Summit Group announces that it has sold its 41.7% shareholding in Tennyson Insurance Ltd to Zurich Holdings (UK) Ltd in a transaction which values Tennyson Insurance at up to £7.5 million.

Background

Tennyson Insurance was formed in 2008 by Simon Wright and Guy Stanford, who had been backed in 1998 by The Summit Group to form the sales outsourcing business, Tennyson. As a result of their experience at Tennyson, Wright and Stanford identified the opportunity to form a specialist insurance broker to harness their extensive sales experience on behalf of a major insurance business seeking to build market share in the UK which might not have the specialised sales skills in house which is required in some market sectors.

Summit backed them again in this new venture which was established as an associate of Tennyson, and they managed to win the mandate to undertake broking activities for Zurich Insurance in two specialised fields, that of charities and social organisations and town and parish councils. This business was very successful in increasing Zurich’s premium income in these two divisions proving the added value of Tennyson’s contribution.

In 2014 Zurich approached Tennyson to buy the balance of the company which was not subject to its option to acquire 20% of the share capital, and a sale agreement was entered into on 20 March 2015.

The sale values the entire business at up to £7.5m and the terms of the sale reflect an initial gain on Summit’s investment of 11 times its investment which could potentially increase to 16 times, dependent on performance under an earn out arrangement.

Kit Hunter Gordon, Managing Director of The Summit Group said:

“We are delighted to have been able to back two very successful entrepreneurs in Simon Wright and Guy Stanford since they founded the original Tennyson company in 1998 and to provide both financial and business support to allow them to focus on the aspects of the business they knew best. The end result has been to generate a great return for us all and a well-deserved reward for their many years of hard work. It is a good demonstration of how hands on (“mentor”) venture capital can work. ”

Simon Wright, Joint Managing Director of Tennyson Insurance said:

“The sale to Zurich represents the culmination of 17 years of careful building of our business supported by The Summit Group and we now look forward to moving on to the next phase where we can play on a larger stage with all the opportunities that are entailed as part of Zurich Insurance.”

For further Information contact:

The Summit Group Limited

Kit Hunter Gordon, Managing Director

Tel : 020 7720 4255
Email: kit.huntergordon@summit-group.co.uk

Tennyson Insurance Limited

Simon Wright, Joint Managing Director

Tel: 01243 832049
Email: simon.wright@tennysoninsurance.co.uk