History
Catlin Underwriting Agencies Limited (CUAL) was established as an underwriting agency at Lloyd's of London in 1984 by Stephen Catlin, who today remains chief executive of the Catlin Group. Catlin's first Lloyd's syndicate (Syndicate 1003) began underwriting in 1985 on behalf of Lloyd's Names (private individuals who invested in the Lloyd's market) with a premium capacity of £6 million.
Syndicate 1003 grew successfully during its early years, outperforming the Lloyd's market as a whole, particularly during the period from 1988-1992 when Lloyd's reported huge financial losses.
By its 10th anniversary in 1995, Syndicate 1003 had increased its premium capacity to £170 million. During that year, the company received a substantial private equity investment from Western General Insurance Company of Bermuda, which was controlled by the Pritzker family. The investment allowed Catlin to establish a second Lloyd's syndicate (Syndicate 2003), which underwrote coverage in parallel with the established Syndicate 1003. While Syndicate 1003 continued to write coverage on behalf of capital supplied by traditional Lloyd's Names, Syndicate 2003 was backed by capital solely supplied by Catlin.
In 1999, Catlin incorporated a holding company in Bermuda, originally called Catlin Westgen Holding Limited and later renamed Catlin Group Limited. Catlin was the first of the traditional Lloyd's of London managing agents to establish a holding company in Bermuda, a strategic move later copied by several of its peers.
Following the World Trade Center tragedy in 2001, Catlin expanded its operations and strengthened its balance sheet. In 2002, Catlin raised US$532 million in private equity funds from a consortium of investors (including $482 million of new equity capital and the provision of a $50 million term loan facility. The equity capital, in the form of convertible preferred stock, was provided by a consortium of private equity investors. It was the only company operating at Lloyd's to receive private equity financing in the wake of 9/11; most of the funds that were injected into the insurance market were directed to start-up insurance and reinsurance companies formed in Bermuda. Following the capital raise, Catlin purchased the capacity that had been supplied to Syndicate 1003 by Lloyd's Names and subsequently merged Syndicate 1003 into Syndicate 2003.
Catlin shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. The Group's initial public offering, which was several times oversubscribed, raised nearly $200 million in new capital.
In October 2006 Catlin announced that it intended to acquire Wellington Underwriting plc, which managed one of the largest syndicates at Lloyd's and had established underwriting operations in the United States: the acquisition was completed on 18 December 2006.
Read more about this topic: Catlin Group
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of.”
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)
“Universal history is the history of a few metaphors.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)
“In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)