London, April 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Specialist insurer Beazley has expanded its mergers & acquisitions (M&A) team to better service key markets and explore new opportunities. The expansion includes the appointment of five new underwriters.
This follows several years of continuous growth in underwriting transaction risks. Tim Allen, Beazley’s global head of M&A, said, “We have seen increased interest in protecting transactions through insurance and we are expanding the team to meet this rising demand. We are especially pleased some of the top professionals in our business have decided to join Beazley.”
He added: “Over the course of four years, we have grown from a team of three underwriters to the current level of 14 M&A professionals. With this expansion, we will have greater expertise and capacity for our clients.”
In recent months the M&A team has expanded to include a presence in Germany, Singapore and Denver, Colorado, in addition to its more established locations London and Atlanta, Georgia.
London
Joining in London are Lorraine Lloyd-Thomas and Cameron McCoy. Lorraine comes to Beazley from Marsh where she spent 14 years, most recently as a managing director in Marsh’s UK private equity and M&A practice. Previously, she headed up the transactional risk team for Marsh in the UK. Lorraine is a non-practising solicitor and was one of the first joiners to the M&A insurance market from the legal profession back in 2002.
Cameron McCoy is an experienced underwriter who will be responsible for the underwriting of UK and international M&A risks. Prior to joining Beazley, Cameron worked as an M&A underwriter at AIG and previously as a corporate lawyer at leading international firms with a focus on cross border private and public M&A and private equity transactions.
US
In the US, Melanie Walker has joined Beazley in Atlanta to increase capacity for US domestic risks. Melanie was most recently an associate with Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP where she focused on M&A. Prior to that, she was at an international law firm, headquartered in New York City, within the firm’s capital markets practice, where she worked on public and private capital markets transactions, including tender and exchange offers, initial public offerings and debt issuances.
In addition Tim Allen has moved from London to Denver as the team looks to build its offering across the US mid-market.
Continental Europe
To increase Beazley’s capacity for the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region, for both primary and excess risks, Kirsten Windle-Wehrle has joined the company. She is based in Munich where she underwrites M&A transaction liability business on a global basis. An attorney-at-law, with expertise in M&A, private equity and corporate law, she joins Beazley from Frankfurt-based commercial law firm Oppenhoff & Partner Rechtsanwälte and Steuerberater, where she was a specialist M&A lawyer.
Asia-Pacific
As a sign of further commitment to the Asia Pacific region, during the course of 2020 Beazley M&A underwriter Jordan Schwarz will move to Beazley’s Singapore hub from London to support increased demand there and in Australia and New Zealand.
Jordan will work with Jade Cummings in Singapore who joined Beazley last November from McAfee, LLC, where she served as a legal counsel.
Note to editors:
Beazley plc (BEZ.L) is the parent company of specialist insurance businesses with operations in Europe, United States, Canada, Latin America and Asia. Beazley manages six Lloyd’s syndicates and, in 2019, underwrote gross premiums worldwide of $3,003.9m. All Lloyd’s syndicates are rated A by A.M. Best.
Beazley’s underwriters in the United States focus on writing a range of specialist insurance products. In the admitted market, coverage is provided by Beazley Insurance Company, Inc., an A.M. Best A rated carrier licensed in all 50 states. In the surplus lines market, coverage is provided by the Beazley syndicates at Lloyd’s.
Beazley’s European insurance company, Beazley Insurance dac, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and is A rated by A.M. Best and A+ by Fitch.
Beazley is a market leader in many of its chosen lines, which include professional indemnity, cyber, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, and political risks and contingency business.
For more information please go to: www.beazley.com