AnaCap Financial Partners (“AnaCap”), a leading financial services specialist mid-market private equity investor, today announces a significant growth investment into MRH Trowe (“MRHT”), an owner managed top-10 commercial lines insurance broker in Germany.
AnaCap will join the MRHT management team as a strategic growth partner with management remaining as the largest shareholder group in the company. The investment will enable the acceleration of an acquisitions pipeline alongside investment in talent, data management and the application of technology.
This transaction allows management to remain as long-term committed shareholders of the group while continuing to build a leading, German commercial lines insurance broker, supported by AnaCap as collaborative investment partners.
The deal follows AnaCap’s successful growth partnership with the management founders of heidelpay, a German payments company which was successfully sold to KKR last year.
MRH Trowe is one of the ten largest German industrial brokers. In addition to MRH Trowe Insurance Brokers GmbH, several specialist service providers for various segments operate under the umbrella of Mesterheide Rockel Hirz Trowe AG Holding. MRHT offers extensive expertise in practically all insurance lines for industrial and commercial customers as well as affluent private customers. The owner-managed company continues to pursue a consistent growth trajectory with a holistic advisory offer, specialised teams and a strong focus on digitisation at the interface of clients, brokers and insurers.
470 MRHT employees manage a premium volume of more than €300 million and helped to generate around €60 million of run-rate revenues in 2020. This represents an average annual growth rate of more than 20%, organically and inorganically, since 2017.
MRHT distributes its product offering through a strong network across 12 German cities nationwide and also has exclusive partnerships with more than 100 German savings banks.
As a specialist financial services investor, AnaCap will bring both capital and operational expertise to accelerate MRHT’s impressive growth through further acquisitions in the large and highly fragmented German commercial lines insurance broking market.
AnaCap will also support MRHT’s digitisation strategy, aiming to further develop their hybrid distribution model of tailored personal insurance broking as well as digital and online customer portals, claims settlement, reporting and cross-selling among other service offerings.
Ralph Rockel, Co-Founder of MRH Trowe, commented: “We are enormously excited about partnering with AnaCap for the next stage of our journey. AnaCap has significant experience in the insurance market as well as a proven track record in building leading businesses both organically and through acquisition in the DACH region. In addition, their expertise in the application of enabling technology will help us continue to gain market share and margins. We look forward to a dynamic outlook together.”
Tassilo Arnhold, Partner at AnaCap, commented: “The longer-term outlook for the insurance broking market in the DACH region is compelling. Our strategy is to partner with an excellent management team and to bring our experience of growth execution, as well as technological innovation in the insurance sector more generally, to support this outstanding growth opportunity. We anticipate working in tandem with the MRHT team over the coming years to accelerate a successful buy-and-build strategy in this attractive market.”
The investment was made from AnaCap Financial Partners III, L.P and financial details and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
