Aleph, Crestview invest €260m in Keyhaven-backed Darag

The fresh capital will be used to build the company's US operations. Since 2009, it has completed 23 run-off transactions in Europe with a total value of more than €740m.

Darag is expected to benefit from the EU-wide Solvency II regulatory regime, which has resulted in some insurance companies being pushed to exit parts of their businesses.

Since acquiring the business in July 2014, Keyhaven has strengthened the management team with the appointment of former Canopius and Aegis chief executive Stuart Davies as executive chairperson in 2017, and Tom Booth as CEO with effect from 23 July 2018.

Previous funding
Frankfurt-based PE firm Augur Capital acquired a majority stake in Darag for €20m in April 2009. The company received a further €60m investment to fund new acquisitions from Keyhaven in exchange for a minority stake in April 2013.

Under Augur's ownership, Darag was restructured and repositioned as the first reinsurance company to specialise in run-off in continental Europe. According to a PwC study, the European run-off insurance market amounted to €235bn in 2013.
Keyhaven completed the full management buyout from Augur in July 2014, at an enterprise value of €120m.

Company
Founded in 1949, Darag is a direct insurance and reinsurance company. It takes over inactive or discontinued business from direct insurers and reinsurers. The company employs 122 people and is headquartered in Malta, but is most active in the German market.

People
Aleph Capital – Hugues Lepic (CEO).
Crestview Partners – Richard DeMartini (partner).
Keyhaven Capital Partners – Claus Stenbaek (managing partner).
Deutsche Versicherungs- und Rückversicherungs-AG – Stuart Davies (executive chairman).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• DACH
• Financials
• Germany
• Malta