Hermes backs £62m AMG MBO

Hermes Private Equity has backed a £62 million (€91.5 million; $109 million) management buyout of Ashworth Mairs Group (AMG), a loss adjuster and outsourced service provider to the UK insurance sector.
 
The corporate and structured finance team of Royal Bank of Scotland in Manchester provided debt funding for the transaction.
 
According to Shane Feeney, director at Hermes Private Equity, the auction process for the transaction was run by Clearwater Corporate Finance, and involved only financial buyers.
 
The acquisition of AMG is Hermes Private Equity’s first investment from its Hermes Private Equity Partners II (HPEP II) fund, which closed on £250 million at the beginning of September. The fund, which focuses on UK and European mid-sized buyouts, received a £100 million commitment from the Royal Mail Pension Plan, the first third party investor in a Hermes fund.
 
Feeney said that this was also Hermes’ first investment in the sector: “We’ve invested in support services, but not support services to the insurance industry.”
 
Established in 1992, North West-based AMG offers traditional loss adjusting and specialist services, including in-house project management of domestic subsidence claims and total claims management solutions for insurers and their customers.