Page 20 - The Insurance Times April 2025

which is to become part of ERGO, deals, the maturity of these markets
Munich Re’s primary insurance arm, and a scarcity of high-quality targets Attention Subscribers
marking a significant expansion into have shifted investor focus to continen- Please renew your Subscription of The
the US small and medium-sized busi- tal Europe, where established consoli- Insurance Times Journal to receive
nesses (SMB) segment. dation platforms and new buy-and-
copy of the journal uninterruptedly.
build strategies are emerging.
Over 30 million small businesses, span-
ning more than 1,000 professions, op- “Consolidation was so strong in Iberia You can now pay by GPAY, Phonepe,
erate in the US, accounting for 99% of that it overtook the DACH region (Ger- Paytm, Amazon, ICICI Pay, BHIM UPI
all the country’s companies and con- many, Austria, Switzerland), making it
tributing 44% to the Gross Domestic the second most active market, with
Product (GDP). 117 deals announced,” the firm added.
Despite their significant contribution, Meanwhile, private equity (PE) inter-
insurance penetration among these est in asset-light insurance businesses
small businesses remains low, with 75% also reportedly continues to drive
considered underinsured. larger deal sizes and increased trans-
The total addressable market for small actional funding.
business insurance, estimated at $175 FTI Consulting’s report found there
billion, is highly fragmented, at the were 437 PE-backed transactions
same time, it presents substantial across Europe in 2024, up 20% on
growth opportunities. 2023.
Munich Re’s acquisition of NEXT Insur- André Frazão, Head of the EMEA In-
ance is seen as a strategic move to surance M&A practice at FTI Consult-
leverage the company’s advanced ing, commented, “2024 was another
technology and digital-first approach to record-breaking year for insurance
address this market gap. M&A deals, which underscores the
market’s resilience and opportunism.
European insurance M&A “Despite some predictions of a slow-
surges 20% in 2024: FTI down, the UK and Ireland continue to
Consulting lead deal activity in Europe, as they
represent the largest insurance mar-
A new report from FTI Consulting has ket in the region with the highest num-
revealed that European insurance ber of broker and MGA consolidation Sashi Publications Easy Payment
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The Insurance Times April 2025 19