QBE European Operations is to acquire the renewal rights for the UK regional operations and business currently underwritten by Brit Insurance .

The Brit UK underwriting and support teams are led by Ray Cox and comprise almost 130 staff spread across eight locations in the UK. The teams will transfer to QBE on completion and will continue to service existing renewals, as well as broker and client relationships. Ray Cox and Elliot Miller, QBE’s head of UK national, will jointly lead an orderly integration of the Brit and QBE regional UK operations and locations.

The merged operation will have an ongoing gross premium of over £0.5 billion spread across ten underwriting locations. These comprise Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Reading and Stafford, as well as London regional.

Steven Burns, chief executive officer of QBE commented: “Ray Cox and the Brit UK team have built up a much respected franchise and will bring a wealth of experience and talent to QBE. Their strength in specialising in the UK regional sector, particularly for property business, is highly complementary and additive to QBE’s existing account based around our traditional casualty and motor bias. Both businesses have been built upon an entrepreneurial approach to doing business with locally empowered underwriters who understand the dynamics of the regional markets they serve.

“This deal enables QBE to build significantly upon its established UK regional presence and enhances our position in London and the South East, in particular. At over £0.5bn premium, the combined operations will have meaningful scale whilst still retaining their focus on specialist underwriting, coupled with high quality broker and client service. We look forward to welcoming Ray and the Brit UK team to QBE.”

Mark Cloutier, CEO of Brit Insurance Holdings BV commented: “We believe QBE is the ideal home for the Brit UK team to continue to develop the outstanding franchise they have built up over many years under our umbrella. We wish them every success in the future. For the overall Brit group, this transaction delivers a key aspect of our strategy to consolidate and focus our underwriting within Lloyd’s.”

The transaction is expected to complete on 13 April.

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