British-American Insurance Company Limited (In Judicial Management)
Traditional Life Insurance Portfolio in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU)
Notice of SALE
BASSETERRE St.Kitts, September 13th, 2011 -- Request for interested parties' Registration for the sale of British-American Insurance Company's traditional life insurance portfolio in the ECCU. British-American Insurance Company Limited (In Judicial Management) (“BAICO” or the “Company”) is seeking interested parties to acquire its traditional life insurance portfolio in the ECCU (the “Portfolio”).
BAICO is a Bahamian company, incorporated in the Bahamas in 1920. In 2009 BAICO and its branches in the ECCU were placed into Judicial Management or similar statutory control.
As part of the planned restructuring of the Company’s ECCU operations, the Judicial Manager (JM) is intending to sell the Portfolio.
The sale is being supported by the Governments of the member countries of the ECCU (the “EC Governments”) who have agreed, subject to qualifying criteria, to provide cash to fund the Portfolio’s liabilities at the point of transfer .
The Portfolio consists of approximately 19,000 active policies with coverage in the eight countries of the ECCU (Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines).
The sale represents a unique opportunity for a new market entrant to access an existing and well established customer base with excellent coverage across the ECCU, or alternatively for an existing insurance provider to increase their policyholder base significantly.
It is intended that, subject to satisfying applicable regulatory requirements, the successful purchaser of the Portfolio will be granted all relevant licenses where necessary to allow it to continue to operate the Portfolio in each of the eight ECCU countries.
BAICO has been one of the leading life insurance operators in the ECCU over the last two decades, and it is anticipated that the new operator of the Portfolio will be in a position to attain similar market leadership post transfer.
The Portfolio represents significant potential synergies for a strategic investor, including:
• Access to an extensive and established customer base with expected annual premiums in excess of EC$23.7 million
• Regulatory approval to operate traditional life insurance businesses in the relevant EC jurisdictions (subject to meeting local regulatory criteria)
• An opportunity for the investor to leverage their existing IT, systems and back office functions across a wider policy base
• The incorporation of a pre-existing life insurance business into their own product offering that does not require extensive investment in business development to develop
• A platform to cross-sell their own products into the Portfolio’s existing customer base In addition to the synergistic benefits, the Transaction offers excellent financial and operational benefits, including:
• Cash generative Portfolio given the agreed financial support as at the point of transfer
• Limited operational uncertainty regarding policyholders given the extensive historical records available for them (all policies were established prior to Judicial Management in 2009)
• No hidden corporate exposures due to the nature of a Portfolio transfer
• Complete discretion to implement desired systems and processes from the outset of ownership of the Portfolio
Interested parties must be able to demonstrate the following:
.Strong reputation
. That they have sufficient expertise, qualifications and experience to operate a life insurance business from within the ECCU
. A history of strong financial performance, track record of financial strength and highest quality governance arrangements.
. A commitment to have a substantial presence for this business within the ECCU
Interested parties should be able to demonstrate that they can bring many, if not all of the following attributes to BAICO:
. Have clear strategic plans to expand within the EC and the region
.Financial strength and operational platform to be able to continue to support and serve BAICO’s Life Insurance Policy customers
.Interested parties are invited to register for the sales process through the submission of a registration form (the “Registration Form”) and the payment of a processing fee of US$15,000 (the “Registration Fee”) on or before 17:00 hours (EST) on September 28, 2011.
Please contact Nigel Rouse at nigelrouse@kpmg.com.bs or Erin Bethell at ebethell@kpmg.com.bs for a copy of the registration form.
After submitting the Registration Form, parties will be supplied with a document describing the investment opportunity in more detail.
Once the payment of the Registration Fee is confirmed, interested parties will receive a pre-qualification package (“the Pre-Qualification Package”) which contains additional details on the process and a list of information requirements with respect to the investor/consortium for evaluation by the Judicial Manager and EC Governments.
Pre-Qualification Packages must be submitted on or before October 18, 2011. Should the relevant party not be chosen by the JM or the EC Governments to move forward to the due diligence phase of the process, the Registration Fee will be refunded.
However, if and when a participant is invited to the due diligence process, this fee will become non-refundable.
Parties who breach any of the bid terms will not receive a refund, whether they are invited to participate in the due diligence phase or not.
Qualified investors/consortiums will be invited to participate in the due diligence phase including access to a data room, an information memorandum and a presentation on the details of the Portfolio and history thereof.
After the due diligence phase, investors/consortiums will be invited to submit binding bids. As BAICO is in Judicial Management, final completion of the transaction will be subject to Court approval.
*************************
DISCLAIMER
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers
