Insurance holding company AmTrust Financial Services (Nasdaq: AFSI) is acquiring insurance underwriter ANV Holdings B.V. from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP). The transaction is valued at $218.7 million and is being funded with cash on hand.

ANV underwrites commercial property/casualty insurance products through its three Lloyd’s of London’s syndicates, which it acquired from Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings SA in 2012 for $49.7 million in cash. Under the agreement, AmTrust is also supporting the ANV’s funds at Lloyd’s and replacing the OTPP’s participation.

“We view the proposed acquisition of ANV as a transformative transaction for AmTrust’s Lloyd’s operation,” says Barry Zyskind, CEO at AmTrust. “The combination of our Lloyd’s business and ANV’s established organization will allow our Company to have a greater presence in the renowned Lloyd’s of London marketplace.”

New York-based AmTrust has made earlier purchases in the insurance sector. In early-2015, the company completed its acquisition of ARI Mutual Insurance Co. Later that year, AmTrust also agreed to acquire Republic Cos Group Inc, a Dallas-based insurance agency, from Delek Finance US Inc.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is acting as financial adviser to ANV for the transaction. The acquisition is slated to close during the third or fourth quarter of 2016.

Meanwhile, this adds to recent M&A activity in the insurance sector. In April, private equity firm Apax Partners announced plans to acquire 60 percent of insurance software company Duck Creek Technologies; and in March, The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG) took a majority stake in insurance brokers JenCap Holdings and acquired the assets of Wholesale Trading Co-Op Insurance Services.  

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