Accelerant scoops up Omega Insurance Holdings

Accelerant Holdings U.K. Ltd. has officially entered the Canadian property and casualty insurance market, closing the deal to acquire Omega Insurance Holdings Inc. from Till Capital Corporation.

Accelerant will pay Till Capital approximately $13 million Cdn in exchange for all of Omega’s issued and outstanding shares. First announced in 2021, the deal has received approval from Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the TSX Venture Exchange.

“We are pleased to finalize this agreement and hand the reins to Accelerant, which has the interest and unique ability to grow the business,” Till Capital CEO Brian P. Lupien said of the deal. “Accelerant’s focus on growing in Canada makes this a strong fit and we wish Accelerant and the Omega team every success in the future.”

Led by chairman Phil Cook, Omega Insurance Holdings Inc. includes two wholly owned subsidiaries: Omega General Insurance Company, a licensed insurance company based in Toronto, Ont., and Focus Group Inc., a consulting and project management business. Accelerant has acquired both of these subsidiaries as part of the deal.

Omega General Insurance wrote $1.168 million in net premium last year, with most of that concentrated in the commercial property and liability lines, according to MSA Research stats published in Canadian Underwriter’s 2023 Stats Guide. The company reported a combined loss ratio of 57.98% and a return on equity of 5.89%.

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Accelerant Holdings and its subsidiary companies operate as a risk exchange, serving niche MGAs writing predominately specialty risk for small- to medium-sized commercial enterprises.

Accelerant was founded in 2018 by a group of longtime insurance industry executives and technology experts who sought to rebuild the way risk is exchanged. In June 2023, Accelerant launched The Risk Exchange, a platform connecting specialty underwriters with a hand-selected cadre of capacity providers, supported by a long-term capacity guarantee from Accelerant-owned insurance companies.

To date, Accelerant has members across the U.S., the U.K. and Europe. The acquisition of Omega marks Accelerant’s entry into Canada.

The Omega sale completes Till Capital’s exit from the insurance business. Proceeds of the sale will be used for general operating expenses, and Till Capital will continue to manage its portfolio of investments following closing of the Omega deal.

Till Capital, through its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, owns more than 484,000 common shares of Osisko Development Corp., a North American gold mining company. Till is also a partial owner of a number of companies with royalty interests in the mining and mineral sectors. For example, it’s the majority shareholder of Silver Predator Corp., a mining exploration company with properties in the western U.S.

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/Nuthawut Somsuk