A&O Shearman, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Norton Rose Fulbright have advised on Ageas’ acquisition of car and home insurance company esure from Bain Capital.

A&O Shearman advised Ageas on the deal, while Weil was legal advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright was regulatory advisor to Bain and esure.

Belgium-based Ageas has agreed to buy esure for £1.295bn in an all cash transaction, which will create a top three UK personal line insurance platform. The deal is being funded through a combination of surplus cash and new debt and/or equity, subject to market conditions. Bank of America Securities and Deutsche Bank Luxembourg have underwritten a two-year bridging loan to finance the deal in the interim.

Esure’s insurance brands include the eponymous esure, Sheilas’ Wheels and First Alternative. Ageas is Belgium’s largest insurance company.

The transaction is expected to complete in the second half of the year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Hans De Cuyper, Ageas Group CEO, said: “This transaction will allow us to offer competitive value propositions to a wider customer profile via a multi-channel distribution model, positioning Ageas UK as one of the top three personal lines insurers. Acquiring esure also supports our strategic ambitions of re-balancing our group profile towards businesses with high cash conversion.”

The A&O Shearman team on the deal included insurance partner Kate McInerney, insurance group lead Philip Jarvis, senior associate Charlotte Rowlandson, global M&A co-head Dirk Meeus and M&A partner Hugh Robinson. 

Lead lawyers on the Weil team included partners Max Oppenheimer and Marco Compagnoni, with support from associate Ronan Craig.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s team was led by partner Maria Ross, alongside counsel David Bartlett and associate Leah Mereb.

Bain Capital partner Luca Bassi said: “During our ownership, esure has built the leading tech platform in UK insurance and their highly efficient operations have set a new standard for the industry.”

Last December, a group of nine firms including Debevoise & Plimpton, Herbert Smith Freehills and Kirkland & Ellis were called in to advise on Nippon Life Insurance’s roughly $8.2bn acquisition of Resolution Life Group Holdings, the largest takeover on record by a Japanese insurer.

In January, UK insurance company Direct Line hired Angela Yotov as group general counsel ahead of a potential £3.7bn merger with UK insurance giant Aviva.