REG - R&Q Insurance Hldgs - Joint venture to acquire legacy liabilities

R&Q Insurance HoldingsAnnouncement

06/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8696L  R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd  06 January 2023

 

R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd

 

R&Q invests in Joint Venture to acquire legacy liabilities of MSA Safety

 

6 January 2023

 

R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd. ("R&Q") and Obra Capital, Inc. ("Obra")
are pleased to announce that they have acquired, through a newly formed joint
venture, a wholly owned subsidiary of global safety equipment manufacturer MSA
Safety Incorporated ("MSA Safety").

 

The acquired subsidiary (the "Company") holds legacy product liability claims
relating to coal dust, asbestos, silica, and other exposures. MSA Safety
contributed approximately $341 million in cash to the Company, in addition to
related insurance assets, and the joint venture contributed $35 million.

 

As a result of the transaction, R&Q will provide claims and management
services and Obra (recently rebranded from Vida Capital) will provide
investment management services to the Company. The transaction has enabled MSA
Safety to remove all legacy cumulative trauma product liability reserves,
related insurance assets, and associated deferred tax assets of the divested
subsidiary from its balance sheet.

 

As the transaction concerns non-insurance legacy liabilities, it will not be
ceded to Gibson Re. The structure of the joint venture and the related
exposures in this transaction result in reduced counterparty credit risk for
R&Q, and therefore means that the fees will be lower than those earned
from Gibson Re.

 

William Spiegel, R&Q's Executive Chairman said: "We are pleased to form a
joint venture with Obra to acquire and professionally manage these legacy
liabilities, providing MSA Safety with a complete finality solution. This is
an exciting transaction for R&Q, showcasing the capabilities, reputation
and innovation of our Legacy Insurance business. This will see our reserves
and non-insurance liabilities under management increase to over $1 billion,
comprising two pools: traditional insurance reserves via Gibson Re, and
non-insurance legacy liabilities. This furthers our strategy of becoming a
leading manager of legacy liabilities and reflects our ability to execute
transactions that match different legacy liabilities with the right form of
capital."

 

Andrew Pinkes, R&Q's Chief Executive Officer of Legacy Insurance said:
"While we have been providing Legacy Insurance solutions to insurers,
reinsurers and corporate captives for decades, this transaction opens up a new
growth avenue in providing similar services for non-insurance, corporate
liabilities. This transaction is a strong demonstration of R&Q's expertise
in underwriting and managing long-tailed liabilities, as well as our
innovative approach to structuring and delivering comprehensive finality
solutions."

 

Ends

 

 Enquiries to:

 

R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd
 William Spiegel                    Tel: 0207 780 5850
 Tom Solomon                        Tel: 0207 780 5850

 Numis Securities Limited (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker)
 Giles Rolls                        Tel: 020 7260 1000
 Charles Farquhar                   Tel: 020 7260 1000

 Barclays Bank PLC (Joint Broker)

 Andrew Tusa                        Tel: 020 7632 2322

 Richard Bassingthwaighte

 FTI Consulting

 Tom Blackwell                      Tel: 020 3727 1051

Enquiries to:

R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd
 William Spiegel                    Tel: 0207 780 5850
 Tom Solomon                        Tel: 0207 780 5850

 Numis Securities Limited (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker)
 Giles Rolls                        Tel: 020 7260 1000
 Charles Farquhar                   Tel: 020 7260 1000

 Barclays Bank PLC (Joint Broker)

 Andrew Tusa                        Tel: 020 7632 2322

 Richard Bassingthwaighte

 FTI Consulting

 Tom Blackwell                      Tel: 020 3727 1051

 

Notes to Editors:

 

About R&Q

 

R&Q is a global non-life specialty insurance company. We operate two core,
highly complementary, businesses: Program Management and Legacy Insurance.
Both these businesses are leaders in their respective markets.

 

Our approach is to deploy our origination and underwriting capabilities,
alongside our licensed and rated carriers in the US, EU and the UK, to
generate attractive fee returns in Program Management and Legacy Insurance.

 

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 2138006K1U38QCGLFC94

 

Website: www.rqih.com (http://www.rqih.com)

 

About Obra

 

Obra is an investment firm specializing in insurance special situations,
structured credit, asset-based finance, and longevity with $3.9 billion in
assets under management. The firm aims to generate long term value and
attractive returns for investors across closed-end and open-end funds. With
capabilities in investing, originating, structuring, and servicing, Obra
provides differentiated investment opportunities and capital solutions for
investors globally.  For more information, please go to www.obra.com.

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