Linklaters has advised The Carlyle Group on the sale of PIB Group, the insurance intermediary group that provides specialist commercial insurance solutions across the UK and Europe, to Apax Partners.

Launched in 2015, PIB has grown significantly during Carlyle’s ownership, both organically and through acquisitions. The sale to Apax Partners will help PIB continue its impressive growth trajectory, including through accelerating strategic M&A to continue its domestic and international expansion.

Linklaters first advised Carlyle when they acquired PIB in 2015, and has since supported them in their acquisition strategy, including most recently the acquisition of Barbon Insurance in December 2020.

The cross-practice Linklaters team was led by partner Alex Woodward (Private Equity, London) and counsel Andrew Lynch (Private Equity, London) with associates John Tsui (Private Equity, London) and Kaiya Kim-Saville (Private Equity, London). Partner Chris Smale (Tax, London) and managing associate Alexei Franks (Tax, London) led on tax structuring advice, whilst partner Oliver Sceales (Leveraged Finance, London) and associate Jack Naughton (Leveraged Finance, London) advised on debt financing matters. Counsel Jean Price (Financial Regulation Group, London) advised on financial regulatory aspects.

Linklaters has extensive experience advising financial sponsors on insurance-related investments, having recently advised Hg on its sale of A-Plan Group to Howden. It is also the firm’s latest major deal for The Carlyle Group, having recently advised the global investment firm on the £1.825bn sale of PA Consulting and the acquisition of Calastone.