Academy Insurance Service (“AIS”) is entering a new phase of growth through external investment from private equity firm Blixt Group (“Blixt”) to drive strategic acquisitions across the sector.
Blixt is a pan-European private equity firm headquartered in London, with access to over €250 million of committed long-term institutional investor funding. An experienced investor in financial services, Blixt is committed to the UK insurance, accounting and wealth management sectors. Blixt focuses on growth-oriented companies, helping its partners to build leading businesses.
At the heart of the AIS growth strategy is the continued investment in its team and leveraging of technology to unlock new opportunities for the business and its client base. This will be complemented by acquisitive growth.
The investment will be led by Gilles Normand and Richard Beaven as CEO and COO respectively, bringing decades of experience in the broking market, and with Brendan McCafferty joining as Chairman.
Neil Turner, Managing Director at Academy Insurance Services said:
“Since being founded over 25 years ago, AIS has been a trusted partner to its clients throughout the communities it serves providing advice-led insurance services. Over my 25 years with AIS I have seen the business adapt and grow in our communities and am excited about entering a new phase of growth to improve our service offering to clients and expand our reach.
“Blixt is an ideal partner for us because they share our focus of taking a client-first approach to insurance while also bringing a growth mindset to take AIS to the next level. Blixt is also bringing strategic expertise and firepower which will accelerate the progress we have made to date in this direction and I am excited about the prospect of accelerating the plans for AIS with Blixt at our side.
“The addition of Gilles, Richard and Brendan to the team will also bring in fresh ideas and exceptional experience of executing growth in a highly regulated environment which will be invaluable as we drive our plans forward in the coming years.”
Gilles Normand, CEO of Academy Insurance Services said:
“I am very excited to join forces with these two teams to embark on an exciting path together over the coming years. The insurance broking market is currently going through a profound change with new regulations impacting all firms and we are excited to be investing in Academy which will be the platform for future acquisitions thanks to an investment partner that can provide the support we will need to drive sustainable growth.
“Neil and the team at AIS have built an impressive business over the last 25+ years and I am thrilled to become a part of this team and help to execute against the plan we have co-developed which will take AIS to new heights in the UK insurance market.”
Carl Harring, CEO at Blixt said:
“We are delighted to have completed our investment in AIS. Over several months working closely together, we have been impressed by the quality, track record, and ambition of the business. We really look forward to partnering with the team at AIS and other like-minded firms to help accelerate growth.”
