Ageas has reached an agreement with Bain Capital to acquire esure, a UK-based digital personal lines insurer, for a cash consideration of £1.3 bn.
The deal aligns with Ageas’s strategic priorities under its Elevate27 plan and aims to enhance the group’s position in the UK market.
The acquisition adds a controlled entity to Ageas’s portfolio, strengthens its presence in Europe, and supports long-term cash generation.
Ageas expects the integration of esure to create the UK’s third-largest personal lines insurance platform. The combined business will benefit from esure’s strong presence on UK price comparison websites (PCWs), offering an immediate expansion into a key distribution channel.
Ageas noted that the transaction presents opportunities to generate operational efficiencies and capital benefits.
The company expects to realise economies of scale in its UK personal lines business, accelerate the rollout of its EIS IT platform by incorporating esure’s claims module, and reduce future operational costs.
Ageas also anticipates further competitive gains through ongoing investment in technology, data, and AI. Over time, capital benefits are expected to emerge from enhanced diversification and the inclusion of esure in Ageas’s partial internal model.
The transaction will be financed through a mix of surplus cash and newly issued senior and hybrid debt and/or equity, subject to market conditions and existing authorisations.
Completion is expected in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approval.
Ageas Group CEO Hans De Cuyper stated that the agreement reflects the growing importance of the UK market to the group.
He indicated that the acquisition will broaden Ageas UK’s customer reach through a multi-channel distribution model and support the group’s financial targets under Elevate27, including sustained dividend growth and improved cash conversion.
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.
Ageas Group CEO Hans De Cuyper
“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,” Hans De Cuyper said.
“Acquiring esure also supports our strategic ambitions of re-balancing our Group profile towards businesses with high cash conversion. We remain, of course, committed to our Elevate27 financial objectives, including our commitment to a progressive dividend policy, and will observe the full synergies of this transaction in the forthcoming strategic period.”
Ageas UK CEO Ant Middle said that esure aligns with the company’s UK growth strategy. The acquisition will expand Ageas’s presence in both motor and home insurance and enhance its reach through PCWs.
He noted that esure’s technical capabilities complement Ageas UK’s and will enable faster development of a balanced, scalable personal lines business.
The combined Ageas and esure franchise will benefit from an outstanding customer offering, through market leading technology and prominent brands, that will drive our expansion into new customer demographics.
Ageas UK CEO Ant Middle
esure Group CEO David McMillan described the transaction as a combination of two complementary businesses.
He said that Ageas’s financial scale and broker network, combined with esure’s brands, data capabilities, and position on PCWs, will strengthen the combined offering and support further investment in customer services.
Luca Bassi, Partner at Bain Capital, remarked that esure has reached record profitability during Bain’s ownership, supported by its proprietary technology platform. He expressed confidence in Ageas as the right acquirer to build on this progress.
