Vinci fica com a Austral Re, passando de vendedora a compradora
A Vinci Compass está pagando R$ 336 milhões pela Austral Re, uma resseguradora que pertence a um dos fundos da própria gestora, aos fundadores da Vinci e outros investidores minoritários, como o IFC e o Banco Genial. A Austral Re é o braço de resseguros da Austral Participações, uma seguradora criada em 2010 pela Vinci no momento de abertura do mercado de resseguros no País.
Vinci and Austral Re have switched roles, with Vinci now buying the reinsurer from its former seller. The Italian construction company agreed to pay R$336 million for Austral Re, a subsidiary of a fund owned by Vinci's founders, other minority investors, and the reinsurer itself. Austral Re is Austral Participações' reinsurance arm, created in 2010 when the company entered the reinsurance market in Brazil.
In the past year, it generated R$2.9 billion in premiums, reported a R$93 million profit, and has a leverage ratio of 3.5 times its equity. Four years ago, the partners decided to sell the entire operation, both the insurance and reinsurance wings. Over 300 potential buyers evaluated the business, some interested only in the insurance, others in the reinsurance.
Liberty Mutual, a Boston-based insurer, signaled interest in entering the Brazilian insurance-guarantee market as part of its strategy for Latin America. Liberty's proposal convinced the controllers of Austral to opt for a split of the two operations. Vinci's CFO and COO, Bruno Zaremba, said that at this valuation level, it was better to stop insisting on a joint sale and split the two operations, as the combined value would be much higher than the offers received so far.
Meanwhile, a search for a buyer for the reinsurance business began, with four candidates emerging. Vinci also put forward its own proposal, inspired by similar operations in the US private equity market, such as those by Apollo Global and KKR. The transaction, driven by the need to generate a significant cash flow to fuel Vinci's growth, is seen as a smart move by Zaremba.
Written by urgent.news from Brazil Journal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
