Insurance broker TWFG's shares rise nearly 30% in market debut (updated)

TWFG

18/07/2024 17:34

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       July 18 (Reuters) - Insurance broker TWFG's  TWFG.O 
shares gained nearly 30% in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday,
signaling strong investor demand for new stocks as the U.S.
initial public offering market aims for a recovery.
    IPOs in the U.S. are attempting to stage a meaningful
recovery in 2024 as high-profile companies begin testing
investor appetite, following a two-year downturn due to rising
interest rates and geopolitical turmoil.
    TWFG shares began trading at $22 apiece, compared with the
IPO price of $17 each. The company, backed by reinsurer
RenaissanceRe  RNR.N , sold 11 million shares in the offering to
raise $187 million.
    Texas-based TWFG, which works with more than 300 insurance
carriers, is present in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
Its business operates within the broader property and casualty
(P&C) insurance market.
    Wage growth and heightened expectations of a soft-landing
have allowed businesses to revive spending on insurance policies
despite higher prices. That has boosted brokers, whose
commissions are tied to the premiums insurers charge.
    TWFG, better known as Woodlands Financial Group, also counts
Bunch Family Holdings and private investment firm Griffin
Highline Capital among its shareholders.  
    Auto insurer Progressive  PGR.N  and insurance bellwether
Travelers  TRV.N  account for a sizeable portion of TWFG's
revenue.
    The IPO was underwritten by a group of nine Wall Street
banks led by J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, BMO Capital
Markets and Piper Sandler.
    

 (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
and Shilpi Majumdar)
 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com; X: manya__saini;))