IMAS acted as the sole financial adviser to Highworth Insurance Limited (“Highworth”) and its shareholders on its sale to Aston Lark Group.

Highworth is a fast-growing personal lines insurer established in 2012 focused on providing insurance for mid to high net worth homes and contents and offering a wide range of cover to address difficult-to-insure risks, including thatched and flood-risk residential property. Highworth uses the internet to source new business with a “Pay-Per-Click” model and highly-trained team of telephone-based advisers operating from its offices in Poole, Dorset.

Aston Lark is one of the UK’s largest independent Chartered Insurance Brokers, with expertise across a range of commercial sectors and an award-winning private client division. The group places over £256 million of premium annually and has over 600 staff in 19 regional locations.

Following an unsolicited approach in 2018, the shareholders decided to engage an adviser. IMAS was retained by Highworth to advise on a sale that maximised value for Highworth’s shareholders whilst finding the right ‘home’ for the business in a larger group that could support the next phase of the company’s growth. This included conducting a targeted and competitive process involving a small number of carefully selected potential buyers with complementary business models that would benefit from adding Highworth’s proven expertise in using the internet to offer mid to high net worth insurance. The value and terms of the transaction with Aston Lark are a material improvement on the offer received before the business engaged IMAS.