The British insurance group behind Sheilas’ Wheels has been snapped up by a Belgian rival in a deal worth £1.3billion.
Surrey-based Esure, which was set up by Direct Line founder Sir Peter Wood, was sold by its private equity owner Bain Capital to Ageas.
The deal will create the third-largest motor and home insurer in the UK. Esure has around 2m customers, with Sheilas’ Wheels and First Alternative its leading brands, while Ageas has been growing its UK business in recent years and boasts more than 4m customers.
Having set up Esure in 2000, Wood landed a £200million windfall when the company was listed on the London stock market in 2013.
He scooped another £360million when it was sold to Bain Capital in 2018 for £1.2billion.
The deal with Ageas is the latest in a period of consolidation in the UK insurance market after Aviva agreed to buy Direct Line last year.
Ageas had also made two bids to buy Direct Line, which represented a similar opportunity to increase its exposure to the UK’s personal lines insurance sector, but abandoned the effort in 2024.
Key brand: Sheilas’ Wheels owner Esure, which was set up by Direct Line founder Sir Peter Wood, was sold by its private equity owner Bain Capital to Ageas in a £1.3bn deal
It last year announced an insurance tie-up with over-50s group Saga. The deal to buy Esure is expected to complete in the second half of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
Ageas, which is listed on the stock market in Brussels with a value of more than £8billion, is aiming to deliver UK revenues of £3.25billion by 2028.
Group chief executive Hans De Cuyper said: ‘We are delighted to have reached an agreement to acquire Esure.
‘In recent years, Ageas has experienced significant growth in the UK, making it an increasingly important part of the group.’
Ant Middle, the UK boss of Ageas, added: ‘We want to continue to grow our broker and partnerships personal lines business in the UK, and Esure will help us to rapidly expand our direct distribution, our customer reach and our scale overall.’
And David McMillan, Esure chief, said the companies are ‘two highly complementary businesses and create an even stronger platform for continued innovation, growth and excellent delivery for our customers’.
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