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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance
Ashley Prebble

Ashley Prebble

Partner

Partner
Ashley Prebble

Ashley Prebble is head of the Financial Institutions Group in London and head of the Global Insurance Sector Group. He specialises in corporate and regulatory insurance, including start ups, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, reinsurance transactions, reorganisations, distribution agreements and all compliance and regulatory matters. He has experience of advising insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries in each the Lloyd’s, London and international markets.

Ashley leads the firm’s insurtech initiative and has spoken at various global conferences.

Ashley is a member of the LMG working group on government affairs and a member of the LMG’s Government Affairs taskforce.

Transactional

  • Leading global insurer Generali on its agreement to acquire Liberty Seguros, the Spanish insurance company operating in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Northern Ireland from Liberty Mutual for €2.3bn
  • Carlyle on the UK aspects of the acquisition of NSM Insurance Group, a global insurance distribution group, from White Mountains Insurance Group for $1.775bn
  • RiverStone International on its reinsurance of a £1.2bn run-off portfolio from MS Amlin based on Reinsurance to close (RITC) and Loss Portfolio Transfer reinsurance (LPT) agreements. This is the largest ever third party RITC transaction at Lloyd's
  • LV= on its £1bn joint venture with Allianz, creating a general insurance business with over six million customers. Clifford Chance and Ashley won the Legal Business Insurance Deal of the Year 2018 for this project
  • Admiral Group plc on an agreement with Zoopla to purchase the Penguin Portals Group, the price comparison portal division, including Confused.com, for £508m
  • Cinven on a major investment in True Potential, with the company's founders, management, and private equity firm FTV Capital selling an undisclosed, majority stake in the business to Cinven
  • Gruppo MutuiOnline on the acquisition from RVU of Rastreator, LeLynx, Preminen and an IT excellence centre headquartered in India. These businesses are leading online insurance price comparison businesses in Spain, France and Mexico.
  • Athora on its successful bid to acquire Italian life insurer, Amissima Vita
  • Inigo Group on the acquisition of Starstone Underwriting Limited from Enstar and Stonepoint
  • Advising Admiral Group plc on its agreement to purchase Luko Cover, a French insurtech intermediary, alongside Luko Insurance AG’s French home and landlord insurance business.
  • AXA Group on its acquisition of BREU, a Polish insurance company, from Bank and enter into 10-year distribution agreements for life and non-life insurance products in Poland through the mBank network on an exclusive basis
  • AXA Group on their agreement to acquire CIL, an Egyptian life insurance company and enter into a 10‑year distribution agreement for life products in Egypt through the CI Bank on an exclusive basis
  • SCOR Investment Partners on its acquisition of Coriolis Capital Limited, a pioneering fund manager in the Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS) field, investing in catastrophe bonds, collateralized reinsurance and climate derivatives
  • Police Mutual Assurance Society Limited on the transfer of all its engagements to the Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited under the Friendly Societies Act 1992.
  • LV= on their agreement to acquire the business of Teachers Provident Society by way of a transfer of engagement
  • Fairfax Financial Holdings on their agreements to acquire the insurance business of QBE in Ukraine, Czech Republic , Slovakia and Hungary
  • Riverstone Insurance on its agreement with AXA on the transfer of AXA’s historical employers’ and public liability and disease claims related policies to Riverstone by way of portfolio transfer and reinsurance

New Ventures

  • Inigo Group on its launch and $800m investment from, among others, CDPQ, Qatar Investment Authority, JC Flowers and OakHill Advisors and securing the approval of Lloyd’s to the underwriting platform

Restructurings & Reorganisations

  • Domestic & General Group on their Brexit mitigation strategy and reorganisation involving the establishment of new European insurance company by way of a Part VII transfer
  • Admiral Group plc on its Brexit-related reorganisation involving the transfer of its insurance business from Italy, France, Spain and Gibraltar to new Spanish and French subsidiaries, by way of two cross-border mergers, two insurance portfolio transfers and three asset transfers
  • Chubb, on its Brexit-related reorganisation involving the transfer of its insurance subsidiaries from the UK to France (converting both companies to Societas Europaea) and effecting a redomicile to France
  • Chubb on the global restructuring and consolidation following the merger of Ace and Chubb through multiple international portfolio transfers and mergers
  • AXA SA on the global restructuring and consolidation of its Lifestyle Protection Insurance business, involving the creation of a new global distribution model and the integration and transfer of two newly acquired UK insurance companies into AXA France by way of portfolio transfer and cross border merger
  • AXA SA on the global restructuring and consolidation of its Lifestyle Protection Insurance business, involving the creation of a new global distribution model and the integration and transfer of two newly acquired UK insurance companies into AXA France by way of portfolio transfer and cross border merger
     

News and client work

View all news and client work featuring Ashley Prebble

Contact details

2022 Predictions on Insurtech from Ashley Prebble

Partner Ashley Prebble reveals his three top predictions for insurtech in 2022 including: a growth in insurtechs becoming insurers; a surge in insurtech M&A activity and increasing regulatory scrutiny around the use of AI in insurance.

Career and qualifications

  • University of Exeter (LLB, Law) 1993
  • Qualified, Dechert 1996
  • Admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales 1997
  • Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright 2006
  • Joined Clifford Chance as a Partner 2013

Awards and citations

  • Ashley is noted as a Ranked Individual in the sector by the Chambers UK 2023 and Legal 500 UK 2023 directory with clients commenting “he has great industry knowledge and is a good problem solver.“
  • Clients say Ashley is “razor sharp and commercial” and “acts as a great relationship manager, linking clients to the right people for the right things.”
  • Ashley is noted as a Ranked Individual by the Chambers UK 2021 - Insurance Non-Contentious directory with clients commenting “he understands the insurance business inside out."
  • The "fantastic" Ashley Prebble's non-contentious practice encompasses cross-border M&A transactions, complex regulatory matters and Part VII transfers. He is routinely instructed by an impressive array of domestic and international insurance companies. One client praises him as "a superb adviser" and adds: "I know when I deal with Ashley that he will grasp any situation very quickly and provide measured advice."
    Chambers 2020, Ranked Partner
  • 'Ashley Prebble is an excellent point of contact and leads the team very effectively. He is always available, often at short notice, to offer help and solutions to problems that may have arisen. He is also very approachable and personable. He is a trusted adviser who has developed a good relationship with our team over a number of years.'
    Legal 500 UK
  • "Very commercial and a very good operator. If you have a deal on, he's your man."
    Chambers 2019
  • "Legal Business Awards 2018, Insurance Team of the Year" and "Reactions London Market Awards 2018, Legal Firm of the Year and Deal of the Year"
  • "He has an excellent knowledge of insurance and regulation coupled with an unerring commercial judgement."
    Chambers 2016
  • Ashley is listed as a leading individual in the corporate and regulatory insurance market in Legal 500 2013