IK Investment Partners, Bertrand Liber and LSA’s management enter exclusive discussions with BlackFin to support the insurance broker in its next chapter of growth

IK Investment Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap II Fund has entered exclusive discussions to acquire a majority stake in LSA (“LSA” or “the Company”) from BlackFin Capital Partners (“Blackfin”). ISAI will be joining IK by acquiring a minority stake, alongside LSA’s CEO, Bertrand Liber and management. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in 1970, LSA is a leading online insurance brokerage platform providing Property & Casualty (P&C) cover for individuals and small businesses in France. The Company specialises in automotive insurance products for non-standard risks, leveraging the prominence of its main brand Assurpeople.com and its fully digital customer experience. LSA covers the whole value chain of insurance products, including acquisition, subscription, contract and claim management through its proprietary IT platform.

Over recent years, LSA has diversified its offering, notably towards animal health insurance with the brand Fidanimo, and more recently by launching Airbag, a wholesale broker specialised in decennial civil liability insurance products for construction professionals. LSA is led by Bertrand Liber, who joined the Company in 2008 and became CEO in 2015. The Company currently employs 135 people based in its headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison and manages over 180,000 contracts in close partnership with leading insurance companies operating in France.

The transaction represents the 15th investment from IK’s €550 million Small Cap II Fund, raised in 2018.

Bertrand Liber, CEO of LSA said:“The LSA team and I are delighted to be partnering with IK, a leading private equity firm in Europe. The team brings impressive credentials in the insurance brokerage sector and has significant experience in helping companies like LSA scale up and grow while ISAI will be the perfect partner to leverage our tech-positioning. I sincerely would like to thank everyone at BlackFin for their help over the last five years in supporting the change of scale and the diversification strategy.”

Arnaud Bosc, Partner at IK and advisor to the IK Small Cap II Fund said:“We have been impressed by LSA’s remarkable track record of growth and the quality of the management team. Having carved a profitable segment of non-standard automotive risks, the Company stands to benefit by applying its digital model to other underserved segments of the market. We look forward to working with Bertrand to develop a platform for further growth.”

Christophe Poupinel, Partner at ISAI said:“LSA perfectly matches the investment strategy of our fund ISAI Expansion: an InsurTech with a dynamic growth, a recognised expertise and a strong focus on digital. We are delighted to work with IK and look forward to supporting the business in its next chapter of growth.”

Bruno Rostain, Partner at BlackFin said:“We have had a fantastic journey with LSA over the last five years and sincerely enjoyed working with Bertrand. Now is the right time for a new partner to come on board and we wish LSA every success in working with IK.”

Parties involved in the transaction:

IK Investment Partners: Arnaud Bosc, Pierre Gallix, Caroline Le Hen, Thierry Aoun, Pauline Lloret
ISAI: Christophe Poupinel, Nicolas Martineau , Antoine Lacour
Legal Advisor: Willkie Farr & Gallagher (Eduardo Fernandez, Hugo Nocerino, Ralph Unger)
Financial / Legal / Tax / Social BDD: PwC (Céline Appel, Marc-Olivier Roux, Yannick Olivier, Bernard Borrely)
Financing: Goldman Sachs Private Capital (Camille de Lamotte, Pierre Grandjean)
Management: LSA (Bertrand Liber, Julie Leveillé-Nizerolle, Henri Lavaure, Anthony Derien, Ludovic Saint-Laurens, Nicolas de Soubeyran, Hervé Lahogue, Laurent Cathalan)
BlackFin: Bruno Rostain, Sabine Mathis, Julien Renaud
M&A Advisor Seller: Rothschild Transaction R (Pierre Sader, Philippe de Montreynaud, Julien Fauconnier, Hadrien Lerouge)
Legal Advisor Seller: Gide (Pierre Karpik, Louis Oudot de Dainville)
Legal Advisor Management: Lerins & BCW (Laurent Julienne, Yohann-David Saadoun)
Tax Advisor Management: Delaby & Dorison (Emmanuel Delaby, Clément Martin)
Financial VDD: Grant Thornton (Emmanuel Riou, Tanguy Guilbaud, Nicolas Salle, Jules Bourdin)

For further questions, please contact: 

IK Investment Partners

Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
Phone: +44 (0) 7584 142 665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk