QBE Re, the reinsurance division of global insurance group QBE, announces the successful completion of its debut casualty sidecar, George Street Re, marking QBE’s entry into the sidecar market with a transaction size exceeding $550 million in fully collateralised quota share reinsurance. The sidecar is backed by institutional investors Culpeper Capital Partners and Calidris Investment Partners and global specialty reinsurer Compre.
The George Street Re sidecar reinsures a portion of QBE Re’s global casualty reinsurance portfolio, enhancing its capital flexibility and providing additional capacity for QBE Re’s core cedants.
GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities LLC, acted as sole structuring agent and placement agent for the transaction, while Mayer Brown LLP served as deal counsel. The business is reinsured through several cells of Mangrove Risk Solutions Bermuda Ltd. (“Mangrove”), a Bermuda exempted company licensed as a Class 3 insurance company.
Chris Killourhy, QBE Group Chief Financial Officer, said: “We are excited to announce the successful completion of our inaugural casualty sidecar, George Street Re. The transaction leverages our Bermuda platform, QBE Capital, and is designed to be adaptive to our business needs while building new long-term partnerships with alternative capital providers.”
Nick Hankin, QBE Re Managing Director, said: “Thanks to the support of our new partners, we will be able to meet a continued growth in demand from our cedants whilst maintaining an optimal net portfolio and diversifying our sources of capital.”
Quentin Perrot, GC Securities, Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to have assisted QBE Re in their first casualty sidecar transaction. The quality of the QBE Re portfolio allowed us to engage positively with leading insurance investors that had the experience and sophistication necessary to negotiate a successful transaction for all parties.”