Insurance broker AmeriLife taps Evercore for sale -sources
September 10, 2014 by GREG ROUMELIOTIS AND MIKE STONE
NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Insurance marketing and brokerage firm AmeriLife Group LLC is exploring a sale that could fetch as much as $500 million, and has hired investment bank Evercore Partners Inc to assist with that effort, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Founded in 1971, AmeriLife develops, markets and sells annuity, life and health insurance products to seniors. Its brokers distribute insurance solutions which are backed by major insurers such as MetLife Inc and UnitedHealth Group Inc .
Initial bids for the Clearwater, Florida based-firm were tabled in recent days, according to the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the matter is not public.
AmeriLife’s management, and private equity firms Reservoir Capital Group LLC and Black Diamond Capital Partners purchased AmeriLife from the company’s founder in 2007.
AmeriLife has annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of around $45 million and could fetch 10 times that amount, the people said.
Representatives for AmeriLife, Evercore and Reservoir Capital did not immediately return requests for comment. A Black Diamond spokesperson declined to comment.
AmeriLife could attract interest from private equity firms, which have been active acquirers of insurance services providers because of their resilience in financial downturns, the people familiar with the matter said.
This summer, Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp purchased York Risk Services Group Inc, an insurance claims services provider, for $1.33 billion. KKR & Co LP acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $2.4 billion from private equity peer Hellman & Friedman LLC earlier in the year. (Reporting By Greg Roumeliotis and Mike Stone in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)