Gresham invests £12.3m in the MBO of Lanes Assistance Services

Gresham, the UK mid market private equity specialist, today announces that it has completed an investment of £12.3 million in Lanes Assistance Services (“LAS”).

The investment will buy-out existing shareholder Lanes Group plc and
provides significant capital to develop LAS’ infrastructure and
personnel to drive future growth. Gresham provided 100% of the funding.

With offices in Manchester and Birmingham, LAS provides a market leading outsourced claims management service for the insurance industry. LAS’ clients include a number of top UK insurers.

With insurers increasingly focused on controlling claims costs, there has been a strong trend towards outsourcing claims management services in recent years in order to reduce costs and reduce the claim cycle. With the market leading technology platform and a strong reputation for providing customer service, LAS is well positioned to grow organically through expanding its client base and through acquisition.

Gresham’s investment will be used to enhance LAS’ operational infrastructure, expand its service offering and strengthen the senior management team.

Andy Marsh, Partner at Gresham comments: “We have been looking to invest again in this market for some time now. The key for us has been to identify a market leading business that delivers real and quantifiable cost savings for its insurer companies. Our work on LAS substantiated this. We are delighted to be supporting the management as they take the company to the next stage in its growth.”

The management buy-out is led by LAS Managing Director Darren Cooper and Commercial Director Tim Walker.

Darren Cooper, Managing Director, LAS said: “Partnering with Gresham will ensure that we are well placed to maximise the wealth of opportunity which exists in the market. The investment will ensure that the high level of customer service LAS provides is maintained as volume increases and that future growth is managed in a controlled manner. It’s a very exciting time for us.”

Recent Gresham investments in the insurance and claims management sectors include insurance broker Giles which was successfully exited in 2008 yielding an investment return to Gresham of 2.8x money and Ansa, a claims management business exited in 2005 which yielded a return of 3x money.

The Gresham team comprised Andy Marsh, Iain Wolstenholme and Simon Hemley.