PMI specialist Chase Templeton has announced its latest acquisition with the purchase of London-based intermediary Get Private Limited in a deal worth £6.3m annual premium.
The deal brings £6.3m annual premium income (API) to the consolidator, some £6.1m of which is generated by SME clients.
The purchase follows the May 2014 acquisition of Get Private Limited's individual book, a move which brought in £2m in individual health insurance premiums.
Get Private was founded in 2001 by managing director Marc Benjamin who following the sale will pursue other business interests. He will act as an Appointed Representative for Chase Templeton focusing on new business growth.
The acquired business will be integrated into Chase Templeton's SME Centre of Excellence located at the company's headquarters in Lancashire.
Having completed 26 deals last year, Chase Templeton has previously signalled that it would pursue "fewer but bigger transactions" in 2015 as its buy-and-build strategy matures.
Jeff Tate, merges and acquisitions director at Chase Templeton said: "This is one of the larger deals we've done and one that demonstrates how buy-and-build is being refined in line with the maturity of the business.
"It adds a serious slice of premium income from a high quality portfolio which is embedded within the SME niche in which Chase Templeton is arguably the fastest-growing player. Whilst we serve, and serve well, large national and international corporates. SMEs are really our sweet spot."
Explaining the motivations behind the decision to sell, Benjamin, who has worked in the financial services industry for nearly 30 years, said: "When divesting both our individual and SME businesses we have been able to fully realise the value of the business. Clearly that was important but equally so was the confidence we had that Chase Templeton would take good care of the clients we have advised and nurtured over many years.
"The buy-and-build model they are so successfully implementing is by definition predicated on them retaining and growing acquired books. From my experience in dealing with Chase Templeton I know they do take exceptional care of the clients they inherit."
The Get Private acquisition also underlines Chase Templeton's previously stated intention to aggressively target the SME space and follows its recent recruitment of former Simplyhealth executive Gillian Adams to lead its SME team.
Backed by Manchester-based Palatine Private Equity Chase Templeton has become the PMI sector's leading consolidator with a client base of over 35,000 businesses and individuals generating well in excess of £110m API.
