Cinven and La Caisse are to take a majority stake in managing general agent, Optio. The private equity firm and international investment group have agreed to jointly acquire the stake in the business from Preservation Capital Partners.

PCP initially invested in Optio in 2018, when it was a single-product MGA writing around £35m in annual premiums. Today, it writes more than 30 products with annual premiums of around £460m.

Commenting on the transaction, Deepak Soni, CEO of Optio Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Cinven and La Caisse as our partners as we embark on the next chapter of the Optio story. Over the past few years, with the support of PCP, we have successfully built a diversified global platform through investment in our teams and the acquisition of high-quality specialist MGAs. Throughout this period, we have remained focused on delivering strong underwriting results for our insurer partners and outstanding service to our brokers.”

Luigi Sbrozzi, partner and co-head of the strategic funds at Cinven, added: “Optio is a marquee opportunity in the MGA space. Deepak and the wider management team have built a leading and differentiated home for specialty underwriting talent and we are excited to partner with them as they continue to scale the business both organically and through further merger and acquisition. We are also delighted to be partnering with La Caisse on this transaction and look forward to working together to support Optio's next phase of growth.”

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