Member Article

Folkestone’s Saga acquires motorcycle insurance company Bennetts for £26 million

Saga has witnessed a 10.8% increase in share value yesterday after announced its acquisition of Folkestone-based motorcycle insurer Bennetts for £26.26 million.

Saga, which specialises in cover for the over-50s, said the acquisition was part of its strategy to expand its offering via broker services.

Bennetts, which was previously owned by BGL Group, has more than 200,000 customers, 43 per cent of whom are over 50 years of age.

Lance Batchelor, Saga’s group chief executive, said: “Our model works best where we can differentiate our service, leverage superior customer knowledge to tailor the best product for customers and create cross-selling opportunities.

Following the acquisition, Saga predicts it will control around 20 per cent of the UK’s motorbike insurance market.

TLT advised BGL Group on the sale of Bennetts Insurance. The TLT team was led by corporate partner John Wood and included commercial partner Alison Deighton; tax partner Nathan Williams; corporate associate Alice Gardner; and corporate solicitor Amelia Jarrett. TLT’s John Wood said: “The sale of Bennetts creates opportunities for the brand with the focused support SAGA can offer. For BGL, Bennetts is outside the BGL core target high growth/scale markets and having considered what gave Bennetts’ the best opportunity for growth BGL accepted the offer for Bennetts for SAGA.” Peter Thompson, Group Director for Insurance and Legal Services at BGL, said: “TLT were a key part of the team, providing us with valuable advice and guidance throughout the Bennetts sale process.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .