Accelerant Holdings Acquires Agribusiness Risk Underwriters (ARU)

LONDON and ATLANTA, June 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerant, the technology-fueled insurance platform that empowers underwriting organizations to better serve small and medium enterprises by rebuilding the way that underwriters share and exchange risk, today announced the acquisition of Agribusiness Risk Underwriters (ARU), the U.S. leader in poultry farm insurance product development, underwriting, and loss control.  

ARU was founded in 2016 in Winston-Salem, N.C., to harness fundamental scientific principles, granular weather metrics, progressive technology, and niche expertise to disrupt the legacy farm/ag marketplace. ARU's mission is to provide a superior experience to policyholders, while maintaining a sustainable and profitable risk portfolio writing underserved classes of business. To accomplish this, ARU builds and distributes proprietary insurance products, invests in loss prevention engineering and research, and focuses on collaborative broker and policyholder relationships, facilitating shared victories for all stakeholders. ARU supports a diverse network of wholesale and retail brokers, providing insurance and loss control services to approximately 1,000 American farms and farm family policyholders.

"Poultry farmers play a crucial role in the day-to-day lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, yet this vital industry has not received its fair share of insurance innovation," said Jeff Radke, CEO of Accelerant. "At Accelerant, we believe serving niche needs in a superior way demands laser focus, deep sector expertise, progressive technology, and better data that enables enhanced risk exchange. Since its founding, ARU has distinguished itself with best-in-class products, underwriting, loss control, and technology, which are emblematic of the excellence Accelerant seeks in underwriting partners. ARU CEO Will Johnson is a third-generation insurance professional, continuing the legacy of a North Carolina family with a sterling reputation in the insurance business. Will and the rest of the ARU team have established themselves as the modern thought leaders in the poultry farm insurance space, and we are thrilled to bring their expertise to the Accelerant platform."

Accelerant is reimagining the insurance industry by aligning incentives with better data and a special focus on serving the unique needs of niche insurance underwriting organizations. Accelerant's platform supports these MGAs and PAs with better, more integrated data, shared risk, and reduced fees. Accelerant also offers a full-service risk exchange that supports best-in-class underwriting teams and focuses specifically on serving the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, with a particular emphasis on property & casualty insurance. By leveraging granular data to deliver unprecedented insight into opportunities, Accelerant's platform is purpose-built to increase transparency and collaboration.

"We are delighted to be a part of Accelerant, a progressive and solutions-oriented organization that shares our core values. Like ARU, Accelerant is committed to collaboration, innovation, growth, and delivering new solutions to legacy business challenges," said William G. Johnson III, CIC, AFIS, Co-founder and CEO of Agribusiness Risk Underwriters. "Joining Accelerant positions ARU for an exciting new chapter, as we continue growing not just in the poultry confinement space but also as we expand into other farm/ag classes. ARU's mission will continue to be to provide unparalleled value to our brokers and policyholders, through sector-leading products and loss control services."

Accelerant was founded and is led by a team of insurance industry veterans who understand the challenges of MGAs and PAs but wanted to bring more transparency to the industry so that it could actually deliver on its promise of helping business owners. Founded in just 2018 and backed by leading Private Equity firm Altamont Capital Partners, Accelerant has already made a number of strategic investments and acquisitions to bolster its approach to increasing transparency and bring a digitally enabled and data-first approach to specialty insurance.

M&A Services, Inc. acted as financial advisor for ARU, and Satin & Lee acted as legal counsel for ARU.

About Accelerant 
Accelerant Insurance is a technology-fueled insurance platform that empowers insurers to more effectively and confidently serve small and medium enterprises. We're rebuilding the way that underwriters share and exchange risk by aligning incentives with to improve outcomes for everyone, with a focus on the SMBs that power our global economy and their niche insurance needs. As the non-carrier carrier, we offer a full-service risk exchange that supports our carefully selected, best-in-class network of underwriting teams. Our MGAs focus on serving the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, with a particular emphasis on property & casualty insurance. We leverage granular data to deliver unprecedented insight into opportunities, and our specialty portfolio is fully diversified with very low catastrophe, aggregation or systemic risk. We're proud to have been awarded an AM Best A- (Excellent) rating. For more information, please visit accelins.com.

About Altamont Capital Partners 
Altamont Capital Partners is a private investment firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area with more than $2.75 billion of assets under management. Altamont is focused on investing in middle market businesses where it can partner with leading management teams to help its portfolio companies reach their full potential. The firm's principals have significant experience building business success stories across a range of industries, including financial services, healthcare, consumer/retail, industrials, and business services. Within the insurance industry, Altamont is either a current or past investor in McLarens Global Claims Services, Celestite Holdings, Embark General, Kuvare Holdings, and Accelerant Holdings.

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SOURCE Accelerant Holdings