Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance Advises Armour Group Ltd. on its Formation as a New Bermuda-Based Reinsurance Company

Armour is the sixth reinsurance launch handled by the Firm's New York office under the leadership of Insurance and M&A partner Gary Boss, who continues to play a leading role in ushering in a new group of global competitors in the Insurance industry.

Clifford Chance has advised Armour Group Holdings Limited in the sale of its interest in ILS Investment Management Limited, and in the formation of and the raise of US$500 million in equity commitments for Armour Group Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Armour Re Ltd. (collectively, "Armour"). The investment will provide growth capital for Armour, which plans to pursue global property and casualty run-off opportunities.

Armour is sponsored by Armour Group Holdings Limited, a Bermuda-based property and casualty run-off insurance business founded in 2007 by Brad Huntington and John Williams (the "Principals"), and Aquiline Capital Partners LLC ("Aquiline"), a New York-based private equity firm. Uniquely, the transaction involves a contribution of existing insurance entities into a new structure and, as part of the transaction, the Principals are contributing an existing ILS manager and a claims manager to Armour.

Clifford Chance has advised on most of the completed deals in this market since its inception, with an aggregate value of US$4.86 billion, including the Armour deal. Other deals include the capital raise and launches of Watford Holdings (US$1.13 billion in 2014), Fidelis Insurance Holdings (US$1.5 billion in 2015), Harrington Reinsurance Holdings Limited (US$600 million in 2016), KaylaRe (US$620 million in 2016) and Premia Re (US$510 million in 2017).

Watford Re was recognized as "Best Capital Raising" and "Launch of the Year" in 2014, Fidelis Insurance Holdings was recognized as "Best Capital Raising" in 2016, and Premia and Harrington Re were both recognized in 2017 as "Launch of the Year" and "Best Capital Raising," respectively, by Reactions magazine. Harrington Re was also named "Transaction of the Year" by Insurance Day in 2016, and Premia was named "Start-Up of the Year" by Intelligent Insurer in 2017.

In addition to Mr. Boss, the Firm's multidisciplinary team included Tax partner Mike Seaton; Capital Markets partner Per Chilstrom; Employment partner Howard Adler; and associates Analisa Dillingham, Kirsten Gaeta, Jeff LeMaster and Rebecca Pereira.

With Armour, Clifford Chance has continued its cutting-edge work in this market and remains the established leader in alternative capital reinsurance ventures. Working collaboratively with these pioneering startups, Mr. Boss and his team are currently advising on other deals in this area.