Edme Insurance Brokers acquires UK-based UIB’s India operations

Mumbai: Edme Insurance Brokers (formerly Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers) has acquired UK-based UIB’s India operations, which it will merge with itself. UIB UK is among the world’s top five reinsurance brokers and specialises in the energy and aviation space.Edme writes business worth Rs 200 crore annually through both reinsurance and direct insurance placements. “With this acquisition, Edme will have a topline of around Rs 850 crore this year, consolidating our position as the country’s largest home-grown insurance broker,” said Sanjay Radhakrishnan, CEO, Edme Insurance.UIB India was set up by its CEO, Surendra Mehta, who was also the founding chief of Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers.

He will take on the role of executive vice-chairman at Edme.“This is the first Indian acquisition of an MNC insurance brokerage. UIB was the largest facultative reinsurance broker in the energy space. We see India becoming a regional hub for reinsurance, and with private reinsurance companies coming up, there will be a lot of opportunity in the inward reinsurance space,” said Mehta.Following completion of the applicable statutory process, the merged entity will continue as Edme Insurance Brokers.

“Our goal is to be the largest Indian multinational broker. We are setting up offices outside India in Singapore, Dubai, and London, in addition to Gift City, and the business from these centres will consolidate back into India,” said Radhakrishnan.Edme Insurance Brokers, led by Radhakrishnan and backed by Samara Capital along with investors like Norwest Venture Partners and Creador, had acquired Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers from Aditya Birla Capital a year earlier.“This transaction aligns perfectly with Edme’s long-term ambition of becoming a globally respected Indian multinational in insurance broking. We are confident that it will emerge as a leading insurance and reinsurance broking firm, both in India and globally,” said Manish Mehta, MD & Co-CIO, Samara Capital.