LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - BP Marsh & Partners announced on Thursday that it has taken a significant minority stake in newly formed insurance intermediary group Sodalis Capital, marking its latest move to expand its portfolio of early-stage financial services investments.
The AIM-traded investor said it had committed £5.34m for cumulative preferred shares, giving it a 26.67% equity interest in Sodalis.

It said the same stake was being acquired on identical terms by Alliant Insurance Services, the fifth-largest insurance intermediary globally with annual brokerage revenues of more than $5bn.

Sodalis' founder and chief executive Colin Thompson would also hold around 26.67% of the company.

BP Marsh said Sodalis was created to execute a buy-and-build strategy focused on specialist underwriting and wholesale broking businesses across the UK, Europe and the Middle and Far East.

The funds invested would support initial acquisitions and provide working and regulatory capital for Sodalis and its future subsidiaries.

It said the involvement of Alliant was expected to add scale, distribution reach and operational expertise, positioning the new group to develop into a broader international platform.

Dan Topping, BP Marsh's chief investment officer, who will join the Sodalis board, said: "We are pleased to announce our investment in Sodalis, alongside Colin Thompson and Alliant.

"This partnership brings together an experienced management team and a leading international insurance intermediary, creating a strong foundation for growth in the specialist intermediary market.

"We believe this investment offers an attractive risk-return profile and further diversifies our portfolio of insurance intermediary businesses."

Thompson said the partnership would underpin Sodalis' growth ambitions.

"We are delighted to partner with BP Marsh and Alliant as we launch Sodalis," he said.

"BP Marsh's longstanding expertise and deep sector knowledge make them the ideal partner as we execute our strategy to build a leading independent international insurance group, alongside Alliant who provide not only capital but operational expertise in building blue chip insurance distribution businesses."

At 1227 GMT, shares in BP Marsh & Partners were up 0.21% at 653.4p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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