Transactions Récentes

Hines Associates is delighted to announce that it advised the shareholders of Sutton Winson Limited and Sutton Specialist Risks Limited on their sale to Acrisure

Sutton Winson and Sutton Specialist Risks: Capabilities & History
Founded in 1955, Sutton Winson is a commercial SME and specialist personal lines insurance broker and professional risk advisory business, with offices in Middlesex and West Sussex. The firm specialises in defined sectors and trades, offering bespoke insurance solutions and Risk Management services to clients across the UK and internationally. It also has an Employee Benefits division offering schemes for company employees and a specialist Private Clients team providing a boutique offering to high-net-worth individuals. Since 1998, Sutton Winson has held Investors in People and currently holds “Gold” accreditation. This year, Sutton Winson also attained “Investor in Customer Gold” accreditation.

Sutton Specialist Risks (“SSR”) was formed in 1989 to provide niche expertise and wholesale insurance products to meet the needs of clients operating in the security and fire protection industries. From its inception, SSR has maintained an exclusive relationship with QBE Insurance Group, which has enabled SSR to consistently meet the needs of high-risk industries. SSR continues to develop new products for emerging and established sectors, both with QBE and other providers, such as AXA XL and Aviva.

John Ludley, Managing Director of SSR, commented:
“Our independence has always been hugely important to us and that is why we have chosen to partner with Acrisure. Over the last two decades or more, we’ve had countless approaches from a vast range of potential acquirers. All past approaches were rebuffed as we’ve simply never encountered another business that would allow us to make ourselves even better than we already are. That was the case, until we met Acrisure.”

David Thomson, Managing Director of Sutton Winson, commented:
“Our management teams and shareholders were very clear that most of the consolidators were never an option for us. Acrisure’s model is the antithesis of the global brokers and consolidators; they are 73% management owned. This is a long-term business that was deliberately created to operate very differently. Businesses join Acrisure because of its culture and the opportunity to grow by leveraging its human and tech capabilities.”

Kim Lyle, Director at Sutton Group Holdings, commented:
“We were initially sceptical about the value a corporate finance adviser could bring to the sale process, however within a short time frame of working with Hines any scepticism completely disappeared.  Hines were professional, knowledgeable and extremely hard working, not to mention very calm when it mattered. Their input and help to get this transaction over the line was invaluable and a complex transaction would have been more difficult without their help. Thanks from the Sutton Group directors and shareholders.”

Dilipe Arul, Partner at Hines, commented:
“Sutton Winson and SSR are recognised as leading brands with a reputation for first-rate client service and breadth of expertise across various specialisms. It was a pleasure to work with such an impressive management team and we are delighted to have found them a home that shares the same core values and provides an exciting journey ahead for the people of Sutton Winson and SSR.”