LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. insurer Travelers Cos Inc is in talks to buy a minority stake in Esure as the British home and motor insurer prepares for an initial public offering, Sky News reported on Monday.
Esure declined to comment. Travelers was not available to comment.
Esure, set up in 2000 as one of Britain's first internet-based insurers, could float in London as early as this year, although the timing would depend on market conditions, founder Peter Wood told the Financial Times in March.
Wood knows Travelers chairman and chief executive Jay Fishman from a stint in the United Statesduring which he set up insurance groups Direct Response Corporation and Homesite, one industry source told Reuters.
The sale of a minority stake in Esure ahead of a potential IPO would help establish how much the company was worth.
Esure was valued at about 265 million pounds ($411 million) when Wood bought 70 percent of the firm from former joint venture partner Lloyds Banking Group in 2010.
It has since been valued at up to 1 billion pounds in reports.
Wood is best known for founding Direct Line, Britain's biggest motor insurer, which is also being prepared for an IPO by its owner, Royal Bank of Scotland.
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