Insurance-focused blank-check companies raise $ 3.6 b from IPOs in 2021

Special purpose acquisition companies with insurance as one of their intended target sectors raised about $ 3.60 billion from 20 IPOs in 2021, despite the US Securities and Exchange Commission's April crackdown that led to a sharp decline in SPAC filings in the second quarter.

Pine Technology Acquisition Corp.'s $ 345 million IPO in March and G Squared Ascend I Inc.'s similarly sized offering in February were the largest offerings so far in 2021 by size, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

Kairos Acquisition Corp. had the next-largest offering with a $ 276 million IPO in January, followed by SILVERspac Inc.'s $ 250 million IPO in September.

Insurance-focused REVO SpA was the only company among the 20 to sign a deal as of mid-December. REVO inked a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Milan-based Elba Assicurazioni SpA in July. The transaction received approval from the Italian insurance supervisory authority in October.

There have only been six SPAC whole-company deals in the insurance space since 2020. Aside from REVO and Elba Assicurazioni's deal, four others were announced in 2021: Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp.'s reverse merger with insurtech CCC Information Services Inc., Reinvent Technology Partners Z's reverse merger with Hippo Enterprises Inc., Omnichannel Acquisition Corp.'s reverse merger with Kin Insurance Inc. and Aldel Financial Inc.'s reverse merger with The Hagerty Group LLC.

Many SPACs do not seek traditional insurance carriers as primary targets for their initial business combinations, but that could be changing as business dynamics evolve.

Insurance has become one of the most exciting sectors for vehicles due to emerging factors like high premium growth rates across commercial property and casualty business lines, SPAC sponsor and Delwinds Insurance Acquisition Corp. CEO Andrew Poole, said at the S&P Global Market Intelligence's 11th Insurance M&A Symposium.

SPACs represent a faster track to public markets compared with traditional IPOs, but they also carry a set of insurance-relevant risks and are considered an emerging risk in the global directors and officers insurance space, according to a report from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE. CBInsights reported that there were 359 SPAC filings garnering a combined $ 95 billion through July, including 298 SPACs raising $ 83 billion in the first quarter. In comparison, 254 SPACs formed in 2020 raised a total of $ 74 billion. New SPAC filings plummeted to just 61 in the second quarter as the SEC stipulated new accounting rules that left blank-check companies scrambling to check their financial statements for errors. (Source: www.spglobal.com)