Growth capital investment will support continued expansion of 1970 Group’s innovative liquidity management solution for insured companies

NEW YORK – July 29, 2024 – 1970 Group, a specialized risk financing provider to the insurance industry with expertise in structured financing, credit support, and risk management, today announced a significant growth capital investment from Bain Capital Insurance (“Bain Capital”), the dedicated insurance investing unit of Bain Capital, to support the continued expansion of its innovative liquidity management solutions for insured companies. Financial terms of the private investment were not disclosed.

1970 Group works with insurance buyers and risk managers, insurance brokerages, carriers, and banks to deliver a unique insurance collateral model that effectively manages risks and promotes business health. 1970 Group pioneered Insurance Collateral Funding (ICF), a balance sheet and liquidity management solution that enables companies to transfer their insurance collateral requirements off their balance sheets, thereby giving them more capital to deploy to business operations and investment opportunities.

“Bain Capital’s investment will further support 1970 Group’s mission to help companies unlock liquidity and operate at their fullest potential, enabling us to bring our solutions to a greater number of businesses across the United States and Canada,” said Stephen Roseman, CEO and Founder of 1970 Group.

“Stephen and the 1970 Team have created an innovative liquidity solution for the insurance industry that can adjust to evolving collateral requirements, enabling companies to free up their balance sheets and dedicate more resources to seizing growth opportunities,” said Matt Popoli, Global Head of Bain Capital Insurance.

“We look forward to supporting 1970 Group’s next phase of growth as it continues to enhance the insurance collateral model and creatively manage risk for its customers, allowing them to access capital that would otherwise be trapped in insurance collateral,” said Jack Sun, Managing Director of Bain Capital Insurance.

About 1970 Group

1970 Group is a specialized risk financing provider with expertise in structured financing, credit support and risk management. The company pioneered the concept of the Insurance Collateral Funding solution, which enables companies to transfer their insurance collateral requirements giving them more capital to deploy to business operations and investment opportunities. The 1970 Group leadership team is comprised of insurance, investment, and legal veterans with decades of experience in their respective disciplines. Visit www.1970group.com for more information.

About Bain Capital

Bain Capital Insurance is the dedicated insurance investing business of Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm with approximately $185 billion under management across 23 offices on four continents. We seek to collaborate with leading insurance businesses and management teams to unlock value and drive innovation across the insurance industry, specializing in insurance investing strategies that span the entire value chain and growth spectrum – from catalyzing transformational change, creating new platforms, and stepping into capacity-driven dislocations, to partnering with industry participants to meet their long term strategic and investment return targets. Learn more at www.baincapitalinsurance.com.

• Acquisition will add up to $20 billion in AUM for Blue Owl and support the launch of Blue Owl Insurance Solutions
• Blue Owl also invested $250 million in Kuvare UK Holdings

NEW YORK, April 3, 2024 — Blue Owl Capital Inc. (“Blue Owl”) (NYSE: OWL), a leading alternative asset manager, announced today it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Kuvare Insurance Services LP (dba Kuvare Asset Management) (“KAM”) for $750 million. 

KAM is a boutique investment management firm focused on providing asset management services to the insurance industry, including Kuvare UK Holdings (“Kuvare”). Blue Owl will fund the KAM acquisition through a combination of $325 million in cash and $425 million in Blue Owl Class A common stock. The KAM acquisition is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2024 and remains subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions and specified termination rights. Upon closing of the KAM acquisition, most KAM employees are expected to join Blue Owl. In addition, there is potential for up to a $250 million earnout subject to certain adjustments and achievements of future revenue targets.

Separately, Blue Owl made a long-term investment in Kuvare today, purchasing $250 million of preferred equity. This investment creates long-term alignment between Blue Owl and Kuvare and provides valuable growth capital to Kuvare’s insurance companies, each of which will become new asset management clients of Blue Owl. Founded in 2015, Kuvare is a technology-enabled financial services firm operating several insurance and reinsurance businesses and has become a top 20 fixed and indexed annuity writer in the United States. Kuvare’s business segments include retail, institutional reinsurance and specialty insurance advisory services.

In addition to the preferred equity investment, Blue Owl and Kuvare entered into investment management agreements (“IMAs”) that will allow Blue Owl to deploy up to $3 billion of assets across its existing Credit, GP Strategic Capital and Real Estate investment platforms, which can grow over time. Upon the closing of the KAM acquisition, Blue Owl will be allocated up to $20 billion of AUM, in aggregate. Kuvare will continue to manage the overall asset allocations for its insurance businesses and strategic investments. Blue Owl’s IMAs with Kuvare insurance companies will be additive to Blue Owl’s permanent capital base while enhancing Kuvare’s investment capabilities.

These transactions are expected to be accretive to Blue Owl in 2024.

Doug Ostrover, Co-CEO of Blue Owl said: “The creation of Blue Owl Insurance Solutions represents a significant moment in Blue Owl’s journey. Our acquisition of KAM allows us to provide broader solutions to the multi-trillion-dollar insurance market at scale. KAM’s capabilities in investment grade credit and real estate strategies supplement Blue Owl’s existing strength in these asset classes and further accelerate our ability to bring differentiated products and strategies to the market for Kuvare and third-party insurance clients.”

Marc Lipschultz, Co-CEO of Blue Owl said: “Our preferred equity investment in Kuvare reflects our confidence in the growth trajectory of the business; both through its extensive distribution network and proven reinsurance strategy. This partnership with Kuvare anchors Blue Owl’s expanding presence in the insurance channel, greatly complementing our robust institutional and wealth footprint and further diversifying the markets for which we provide investment solutions. In aggregate, we believe these transactions reflect a creative approach to expanding our offerings for the insurance market at an attractive price.”

Dhiren Jhaveri, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Kuvare added: “It is an important and exciting step in the evolution of Kuvare to associate in such an impactful way with an asset manager of Blue Owl’s caliber. We always strive to be excellent stewards of assets entrusted to us by our policyholders and reinsurance partners, and the team at Blue Owl has demonstrated a unique commitment to helping us achieve our goals. We especially look forward to continued collaboration with our many valued KAM colleagues who will join the Blue Owl team at close of this transaction.”

A supplemental investor presentation with respect to the transaction is available on the shareholders section of Blue Owl’s website.

Ardea Partners LP and PJT Partners LP are serving as lead financial advisors to Blue Owl in connection with the transactions. BofA Securities, BMO Capital Markets Corp., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Mizuho and its affiliate Greenhill & Co, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, and Truist Securities, Inc. are also acting as co-financial advisors to Blue Owl. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to Blue Owl.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as lead financial advisor to KAM, and as co-placement agent on the investment in Kuvare. RBC is acting as financial advisor to Kuvare and as co-placement agent on the investment in Kuvare. Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisor to Kuvare.

Blue Owl Investor Contact
Ann Dai
Head of Investor Relations
blueowlir@blueowl.com

Blue Owl Media Contact
Nick Theccanat
Principal, Corporate Communications & Government Affairs
nick.theccanat@blueowl.com

Kuvare Media Contact
Erica Davis
Director, Corporate Communications
media@kuvare.com 
800-637-6318
About Kuvare Holdings
Kuvare is a technology-enabled financial services platform providing life insurance and annuity products to consumers, reinsurance solutions to institutional markets, advisory services to insurance businesses, as well as asset management solutions. Headquartered in the Chicago area, and founded in 2015, Kuvare has $37 billion of assets and is committed to a sustainable long-term growth strategy. The family of Kuvare companies includes Lincoln Benefit Life Company, Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company, United Life Insurance Company, and Kuvare Life Re (Bermuda), and Ignite Partners. For more information about Kuvare, please visit https://kuvare.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “future,” “propose,” “target,” “goal,” “objective,” “outlook” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions available under applicable securities laws and speak only as of the date made. Blue Owl assumes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements except as required by law.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Blue Owl’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.

Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include the risk of the KAM acquisition not closing on a timely basis, if at all; the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of strategic acquisitions; costs related to acquisitions; the inability to maintain the listing of Blue Owl’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange; Blue Owl’s ability to manage growth; Blue Owl’s ability to execute its business plan and meet its projections; potential litigation involving Blue Owl; changes in applicable laws or regulations; and the possibility that Blue Owl may be adversely affected by other economic, business, geo-political and competitive factors.

Pollen Street today announces that Wide Group has completed the acquisition of Assileo Broker Srl (“Assileo”). Assileo is a Milan-based commercial broker with capabilities across transportation, construction, energy and corporate insurance, with a presence in Milan and Genoa. The business was founded in 2000 by current management, who will remain in the business post completion.

Wide Group is the leading technology-led commercial broking consolidator in Italy, and the acquisition of Assileo will expand both the group’s scale and capability in the Milan market and add a presence in Genoa. Wide has a strong M&A pipeline of potential targets to build on the momentum of this acquisition, driven by a highly fragmented insurance broking market in Italy, with significant potential for synergistic consolidation.

Gianluca Melani, Co-founder & Managing Director of Wide Group, commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Flavio Sestilli, Michele Leonarduzzi and Giovanni Battista Campo, and all the colleagues from Assileo Broker into the Wide Family. With this operation, we mutually enrich ourselves with a history and expertise in insurance that has been passed down for three generations, along with new synergistic skills that align with the current setup of our operational model. This operation reaffirms the excellence and innovation we aim to offer to our consultants and their respective clients.”

Ian Gascoigne, Partner at Pollen Street Capital, added:

“We are pleased to welcome Assileo to the Wide family. Assileo adds additional specialist insurance expertise, scale and geographic reach to Wide’s offering, and builds on the strong momentum Wide is seeing in its acquisition strategy.”

London, March 20^th 2024, Insurtech Insights Conference – The CareVoice (the “Company”), the leading global embedded health enabler for insurers, announces successful completion of its Series B funding, raising a total of nearly $10 million, in a round led by Apis Insurtech Fund I (the “Fund”). This funding will be instrumental in accelerating the Company’s growth, expanding collaborations with insurers across regions, and investing in the next generation of the CareVoiceOS platform.

The Fund is managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis”), a UK-based asset manager known for its commitment to, and success in generating, both financial returns and positive social impact. The team at Apis utilises its sector expertise to lead value creation initiatives at its portfolio companies, enhancing the lives of millions of people served by these businesses. Since the Fund’s first investment in CareVoice in 2019, Apis’ team has contributed to several areas of expansion and development at the Company. These efforts include supporting business development activities to attract enterprise customers, leveraging Apis’ network in the insurance industry, and engaging stakeholders to facilitate these partnerships. Apis’ investment philosophy aligns with the Company’s mission to revolutionize the way insurers engage with their customers for a healthier life. Together, CareVoice and Apis will work to deliver personalized, data-driven health and wellness solutions to insurance customers worldwide.

Over the past two years, CareVoice has achieved significant milestones and solidified its position as a global leader in embedded health solutions. The Company has expanded and formed new major collaborations with insurers, serving millions of customers across more than 15 countries worldwide. Additionally, the Company has established strategic partnerships with global players, including reinsurers and digital distribution enablers, to enhance its capabilities and jointly serve insurers.

CareVoice has demonstrated strong unit economics and maintained cash-flow neutrality over the past 18 months. The Company experienced a remarkable doubling of revenues in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Investing in Innovation: Next Generation CareVoiceOS Platform

The new funding will enable CareVoice to accelerate its growth trajectory further and drive innovation in its CareVoiceOS platform. The platform’s next generation will enhance scalability, reduce implementation costs, and empower insurers to implement or upgrade customer solutions seamlessly. The recent release of the CareEngage framework has demonstrated increased customer engagement and perceived value among end-users.

Accelerating Growth with Strengthened Leadership Team

To support its expansion plans, CareVoice has established a European headquarters in Luxembourg. Concurrently, the Company has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Simon Guest as Chief Commercial Officer and will leverage his industry experience at Generali Vitality and AXA to accelerate CareVoice’s global growth and forge transformative collaborations with insurers worldwide. Additionally, Jan Velich, one of its co-founders, has taken a new role as Chief Experience Officer, leading the expansion of CareVoice reach and impact with its existing major clients. These strategic moves further fuel the Company’s mission to unlock the next growth frontier for the life and health insurance industry by adopting embedded health solutions at global scale.

Sebastien Gaudin, CEO and Co-founder of CareVoice, said: “We are collaborating with two types of insurers, those early movers in the health and wellness space who are already aware of the gaps in their capabilities, and new entrants who want to accelerate, avoiding the pitfalls and challenges other insurers have faced. Both types are looking to generate additional profitable insurance business directly and through attracting and retaining healthier customer profiles. We see an exciting future development of this partnership approach which delivers mutual growth.”

Matteo Stefanel and Udayan Goyal, Co-Founders and Managing Partners at Apis Partners, stated: “The success of CareVoice is clear, demonstrated by the revenue growth of 2x year-on-year by the end of 2023, and the geographical expansion to 15 countries worldwide. With this Series B commitment from Apis Insurtech Fund I, we look forward to continuing to support CareVoice as it matures further and leads the embedded health category as a global leading software for insurance companies.”

CareVoice’s success is further exemplified by testimonial from existing customer. Aura Rebelo, CEO of Fully Wellness Ecosystem at Prudential International Insurance, commented, “CareVoice has been instrumental in translating Prudential’s total wellness vision into reality by contributing to the delivery of Fully SuperApp, offering a holistic wellness user experience across physical, mental and financial wellness. CareVoice’s service ecosystem and data orchestration, its engagement framework as well as its continuous upgrade and innovation with evolving ecosystem are three critical capabilities for Fully Wellness Ecosystem to continuously expand the values for Prudential, its other business partners and their respective customers.”

CareVoice’s achievements and ongoing growth reflect the increasing demand for embedded health solutions and its potential to transform the insurance industry.

-END-

About CareVoice

The CareVoice is on a mission to make insurance more human, with health at its core. We are a global embedded health leader that enables insurers to engage with their customers through configurable user journeys that leverage an open digital health ecosystem, delivered in any front-end solutions.

CareVoice has teams based across Asia and Europe, with insurer clients across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and America regions. Graduated from SOSV-backed Orbit Startups program (2016), Ping An Tech Accelerator (2018) and Insurtech Munich Hub (2020), CareVoice received multiple awards and ranked amongst the top 100 Global Insurtechs.

The CareVoice is backed by specialized Software, Healthtech and Insurtech VCs such as Apis Partners, LUN Partners or DNA Capital, and completed its Series A (2019) and its Series B (2024). www.thecarevoice.com

About Apis Partners

The Apis Group (“Apis”) is an ESGI-native global private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of around 40 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages or advises on total committed capital from investors (including drawn and invested capital) of US$1.2 billion.

Including its headquarters in London, Apis has representation in eight countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Apis is highly conscious of the developmental impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in global markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion and financial wellness are core tenets of Apis’ impact investment approach. https://apis.pe/