PALO ALTO, Calif. & EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HGGC, a leading middle-market private equity firm, and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), today announced that they have together made a new equity investment in professional services and technology company Davies (“the Company”), in which both firms were previously invested. The new capital will fuel Davies’ continued rapid growth and global expansion.
With the investment, London-based Davies expanded its diverse offerings into insurance legal services through the acquisition of Keoghs, an insurance-focused top-50 UK law firm providing dispute resolution and risk services for the UK insurance industry across motor, casualty, complex and specialty classes. Keoghs will form a new legal services branch within Davies, giving insurance customers a full-spectrum solution. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2020 and is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
“The magic in Davies is its ability to bring together great teams to collectively address complex challenges with a one-stop, frictionless solution,” said HGGC CEO Rich Lawson.
John Block, HGGC Partner, added, “We’ve been thrilled with the firm’s meteoric growth to date and look forward to continuing that momentum as Davies expands globally, today with the added support of a legal arm, and with further equity capital support in 2020.”
In 2019 alone, Davies grew revenues 49%—including double-digit organic growth—and launched new claims and insurance operations in the US.
“We’re excited to invest further in Davies as it revolutionizes a complex, highly regulated industry,” said James Ridout, Director in the AIMCo private equity group. “The team continues to identify great additions that bring a similarly disruptive, technology enabled mindsight across the insurance services world.”
Since 2015, Davies has increased its annual investments in innovation and digital transformation more than four-fold. Prior investments by both HGGC, which initially invested a majority stake in January 2017, and AIMCo, which acquired a minority stake early last year, have allowed the UK-based firm to reach a global scale.
The acquisition of Keoghs will add 1,700 new colleagues, taking the collective headcount to 3,700, and bring total clients served to over 500. Keoghs Chief Executive, John Whittle, will continue to lead the business and will join Davies’ Executive Committee, reporting to Davies Chief Executive Dan Saulter.
“We’re excited to partner with a company that matches our commitment to quality and focus on growth,” said Davies Chief Executive Dan Saulter. “Keoghs is the perfect addition as we build out our best-in-class suite of offerings.”
About HGGC
HGGC is a leading middle-market private equity firm with $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palo Alto, California, HGGC is distinguished by its Advantaged Investing approach that enables the firm to source and acquire scalable businesses at attractive multiples through partnerships with management teams, founders and sponsors who reinvest alongside HGGC, creating a strong alignment of interests. Over its history, HGGC has completed 140 platform investments, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate transaction value of nearly $25 billion. More information is available at www.hggc.com.
About Davies
Davies is a multi-award winning specialist professional services and technology business. Davies delivers operations, consulting and technology solutions across the risk and insurance value chain, including excellence in claims, underwriting, distribution, regulation, customer experience, human capital, transformation & change management. Following the acquisition of Keoghs in January 2020, Davies’ core service lines include: Claims Solutions, Legal Solutions, Insurance Services, and Consulting & Technology (incorporating the specialty consultancy, Ember, and SaaS platforms; ServiceTick & Veriphy). Davies has a 3,750 strong team of professionals across the UK, Ireland, Bermuda, the US and Canada with headquarters in the City of London. Davies’ investors are HGGC, AIMCo (acting on behalf of certain of its clients), and Davies’ employees following HGGC’s majority investment in January 2017 and AIMCo’s minority investment in January 2019. Davies’ programme of digital transformation has seen it successfully launch a range of technology-led solutions in to its insurance and highly regulated markets, including the use of video, drones, robotics and its “Disruptive Thinking” innovation lab that places the power of new ideas in the hands of its people. Over recent years Davies has consistently delivered double-digit organic growth through a combination of growing its solutions with existing clients, and adding new partnerships to its business. In the past year Davies has added more than 150 new accounts to its organic platform. In addition Davies has successfully broadened and deepened its operations and digital capabilities via targeted acquisitions. Since the start of 2017 Davies has acquired: Cynergie, CMSL, Ambant, ServiceTick, TLSS, R&Q’s insurance services business, Ember, Direct Group’s claims businesses, Veriphy, USA Risk Group, TMS, GBB, Banwells, Frontier, FWD, ASC, Thornton Group, and Keoghs. More information is available at www.davies-group.com.
About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (“AIMCo”)
Alberta Investment Management Corporation, AIMCo, is one of Canada’s largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with assets under management in excess of C$108 billion. AIMCo, established on January 1, 2008, invests globally on behalf of 32 pension, endowment and government fund clients in the Province of Alberta. AIMCo’s head office is located in Edmonton, Alberta, and has additional offices located in Toronto, London, and Luxembourg. AIMCo’s Private Equity team comprises a dedicated group of experienced investment professionals and manages a private equity allocation of approximately C$6.0 billion. More information is available at www.aimco.alberta.ca.
