26 November 2004 – LAWFUEL – Insurance law, legal, law firm news – Leading UK insurance run-off specialist, Omni Whittington has completed another acquisition in the Singapore insurance market. The Singapore corporate insurance team of Norton Rose, the international law firm, and Singapore law firm, Rodyk & Davidson, acted for Omni Whittington on the purchase of Lion City Run-Off.
The deal comes a few months after Omni Whittington’s acquisition of Reliance National Asia Re Pte Ltd, the Singapore operations of Reliance Insurance Company, the US insurance group (in liquidation) in July.
The acquisition consolidates Omni Whittington’s position in the Singapore insurance market as a provider of run-off solutions.
According to Omni Whittington CEO, Tony Hobrow, the purchase allows Omni to expand its Singapore operations and strengthens its presence in the Far East. Mr Hobrow said:
“Singapore and Asia generally are areas of considerable growth for us so we’ve been keen to find a second acquisition that consolidates our position there. By buying Lion City Run-Off, we can use our expertise to close Lion City through a solvent scheme of arrangement, thereby paying all creditors in full. We hope that this method of bringing finality to a book of business will be beneficial to all parties and will become an accepted run-off solution in the region and be the springboard for further opportunities.”
Norton Rose Singapore corporate finance and insurance partner Chris Moore said:
“We are delighted to have acted for Omni Whittington again and support its continued expansion in Asia. The proposed run-off via a solvent scheme of arrangement is well established in the UK insurance market as a solution to bring finality to creditors and this deal is a further step in helping Omni transport its expertise into the Asian markets.”
The acquisition was achieved in two stages. First, certain offshore general reinsurance portfolios were transferred into a newly incorporated subsidiary of DBS Group Holdings Limited (DBS), Lion City Run-Off Private Limited (LCR), by way of a Singapore Insurance Act scheme of transfer. Upon completion of the scheme of transfer, Omni Whittington acquired LCR from DBS.
Chris Moore led the team, assisted by associate Ken-Hui Khoo, with further support from James Bateson and the Norton Rose insurance team in London. Rodyk & Davidson advised on Singapore law issues. Allen & Gledhill advised DBS.
For further information please contact:
Chris Moore, corporate finance partner, Singapore
+65 6228 1243 christopher.moore@nortonrose.com
Sean Twomey, head of public relations
+44(0)20 7444 3740 sean.twomey@nortonrose.com
Camilla Hardwick, public relations manager
+44(0)20 7444 2283 camilla.hardwick@nortonrose.com
