Helios raises £53.5m for hard market opportunities, majority from ILS investors

Helios Underwriting, the Lloyd’s of London focused investment and underwriting vehicle, secured £53.5 million of new capital through a share issuance, the majority of which has come from insurance-linked securities (ILS) market sources.

As we explained yesterday, Helios was targeting a £60 million capital raise, with £40.8 million of the total set to be committed by specialist insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance investment firms ILS Capital Management and Hudson Structured Capital Management.

It seems those two allocations of capital from the ILS market came through, as Helios this morning confirmed it has raised an aggregate of £53.5 million, at a price of £1.60 per share.

That includes the £43.8 million of new ordinary shares that ILS Capital Management and Hudson Structured’s investments were part of, we believe, so it seems these have been subscribed for in full.

Helios said it was also set to raise another nearly £9.7 million, falling slightly short of a target of £13.2 million through further new shares issued and placed.

Helios also still aims to add a further £3 million of capital, through a conditional open offer, which will take the total to the £56.5 million if successful.

Nigel Hanbury, Chief Executive of Helios, commented on the successful capital raise and the opportunity it presents, “This is a period of unprecedented opportunity for Helios, with a hardening market coupled with the opportunities we see to make further LLV acquisitions which would be value enhancing for our shareholders. Helios is uniquely positioned to capitalise on these opportunities. We are delighted with the results of the fundraise and thank our existing shareholders for their support and welcome our new investors.”

Adding the two experienced ILS fund managers to its roster of capital providers aligns Helios with experienced insurance and reinsurance market investors and underwriters, also giving it the potential to tap their appetites for follow-on capital should this initial investment deliver.

Helios’ CEO explained to us previously that the company has been targeting ILS fund managers and other sophisticated and experienced insurance sector investors.

Now, having achieved this and gained much more scale this year, Helios will continue to build-out its portfolio of Lloyd’s insurance and reinsurance business, with the backing of more investors who fully-understand the intricacies of generating insurance and reinsurance linked returns.