Insurance

The team advises a broad spectrum of industry participants, including life / non-life insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, private equity investors and significant industry associations on the largest and most innovative domestic and cross-border transactions in the insurance sector in Ireland.

Keeping up with the pace of regulatory changes in the current business environment is one of the greatest challenges facing our clients. In Ireland, as part of the European Union, the regulatory landscape is constantly evolving and regulatory focus is increasing in areas such as sustainability, governance, risk and accountability.

Our technical ability, coupled with our emphasis on effective management and service means we can advise our clients on the challenges and risks they encounter due to these developments, as well as the opportunities they may present.

Each of the lawyers in our team are part of a culture built on responsiveness, performance and innovation and are part of a firm that has held its place in the forefront of legal services in Ireland by placing our clients at the forefront of everything we do.

We consistently advise on the largest and most innovative domestic and cross-border transactions in the insurance sector in Ireland. As a ‘cradle to grave’ practice, we also provide advice on regulatory aspects of all stages of our clients’ life-cycle from authorisation to corporate restructuring/administration and all the business-as-usual matters in between.

Our insurance sector focus is completed by both our Insurance disputes team and our Investigations team; which form part of our market-leading Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations Group.

Relevant Experience

• Advising leading French mutual insurer Covéa on Irish law aspects of their acquisition of the Partner Re Group, the Bermuda-based global reinsurer wholly-owned by EXOR for a total cash consideration of $9 billion
• Advising Société Générale and ALD Automotive on Irish law aspects of its acquisition of LeasePlan, including the acquisition of LeasePlan’s Irish insurance undertaking, Euro Insurances DAC
• Acting for CNP Assurance on Irish law aspects of its acquisition of Aviva’s life insurance businesses in Italy, including the taking over of majority stake in a joint venture with UniCredit
• Advising numerous insurers and reinsurers on regulatory matters (including acquiring transaction notifications to the Central Bank of Ireland, regulatory capital issues, outsourcing of critical or important functions and corporate governance), contractual matters and claims coverage/disputes
• Acting for numerous insurers on complex Irish High Court sanctioned portfolio transfers and cross-border mergers, as well as associated reinsurance treaties, including RSA, AIG, Rothesay, Zurich and Randall & Quilter
• Advising on the administration, receivership and liquidation of various insurers and intermediaries, including issues of access to the Irish Insurance Compensation Scheme, such as CBL Insurance, Setanta, Quinn Insurance and XS Direct
• Advising Insurance Ireland in respect of the European Commission anti-trust “dawn raid” investigations into the insurance sector
• Advising the shareholders of Gallivan Murphy Insurance Brokers (GMIB.ie), one of the largest independently owned brokers in Ireland, on its sale to AssuredPartners, a large US private equity-backed insurance broking group.
• Advising AssuredPartners on the acquisition of O’Callaghan Insurances
• Advising on a number of insurance distribution arrangements, including for 123.ie and KBC Insurance, as well as advising numerous clients on insurance distribution regulatory matters under the Insurance Distribution Directive