Private equity firm Southampton Financial has acquired digital insurance broker aha insurance.
“We are delighted to welcome aha to our portfolio of companies and look forward to driving further innovation and accelerating growth,” Southampton founder and CEO Brian Reeve said in a press release to Insurance Business.
Waterloo-based aha insurance, which specialises in online auto and home insurance, was founded in 2017. The company serves customers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
“For the past six years, aha has been focused on bringing digital solutions to the Canadian insurance landscape through our innovative brokerage platform,” said Steve Livingstone, CEO of aha insurance. “The transaction with Southampton marks an important milestone for our young company, as we will be able to leverage a much larger platform with significant resources and talent to offer a broader range of products and services, all with the goal of significantly accelerating our growth strategy.”
Southampton Financial, which also lists Alteri among its investments, plans to build an “integrated platform” that will include both brokerages and MGAs, according to a note on its website.
“Each platform company will make a specific contribution to the Southampton platform,” the company said on its website. “Southampton will look for acquisitions that are not only EBIDTA accretive, but also bring additional skills and areas of expertise to the platform.
“Platform companies will also be encouraged to buy books of business and hire experienced producers as an alternative to more expensive acquisitions of whole companies.”
The company intends to operate as a national insurance intermediary as it builds the “insurance brokerage platform of the future” and is looking for a suitable partner in Quebec, at which point it intends to introduce French language capabilities, according to Southampton Financial’s website.
Premium financing, employee benefits and life and health insurance are expected to be available through the platform.
“Southampton’s approach will be to outsource and partner with leading companies in areas outside of its expertise,” the website states. “This will result in the best and widest possible range of services for Southampton’s customers, as well as creating an income stream from referral fees.”
