UK - Private equity interest for RBS's insurance arm

So far the auction, to be run by Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, is said to have shored up interest from a private equity consortium made up of Apax Partners and KKR, who join TPG on the prospective private equity bidders list. On the other hand, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reinsurance group is headlining the list of trade buyers, also said to include American International Group, Generali, Mapfre, Sampo and Zurich Financial Services. Other private-equity bidders may include Blackstone, Candover, Cinven and JC Flowers.

RBS insurance businesses include Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege and Green Flag, which collectively had a 32% market share of the UK motor insurance premiums in 2007. The Edinburgh-based bank is looking to generate more than £7bn from the sale and is said to be open to a wide range of options including a packaged sale, a partial sale or even joint venturing the businesses.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland