Insurer Canopius falls into US hands in $1 billion deal

Lloyd’s insurer Canopius became the latest Lime Street firm to change hands on Friday after a near-$1 billion sale to a US private-equity house.

The top 10 Lloyd’s underwriter, once led by current Lloyd’s chief Inga Beale, has been offloaded by Japanese parent Sompo to Centerbridge, a buyout firm based in Manhattan and London.

The deal, worth $952 million (£738 million), is also backed by US firm Gallatin Point.

Canopius management will take a small stake. Canopius wrote more than $1.6 billion in premiums last year.

Sompo bought it in 2014 but earlier this year Canopius executive chairman Michael Watson reportedly began exploring plans to make it independent again.

Watson said he was “looking forward to the next chapter in the story as we chart our future as a standalone business”.

The takeover comes days after Lloyd’s insurer Novae was sold to Bermuda’s Axis Capital for $611 million.