AmTrust International has acquired Wakam, a pan-European B2B2C insurer, less than five weeks after the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) imposed a temporary ban on Wakam SA writing new business or renewing existing contracts. The acquisition recapitalises Wakam and lifts the operational constraints that had left its managing general agent and distribution partners without access to new capacity across the platform.
Wakam SA received the ACPR’s order on September 25 after a balance sheet remediation exercise resulted in the firm writing down certain legacy assets and breaching its solvency capital requirement. At the end of 2025, Wakam’s solvency coverage stood at 66% against a regulatory floor of 100%, according to its own published solvency and financial condition report.
Despite confirmed recapitalisations of at least €119 million (around £99.9 million) from its shareholders - €85 million (around £71.3 billion) injected during 2025 and a further €34 million (around £28.5 billion) in March 2026 - the ACPR determined the position warranted intervention. A third tranche, planned for Q2 2026 to strengthen Tier 1 capital, had not been publicly confirmed at the time of writing.
The deal’s announcement on October 26 carries the assurance that Wakam is “now fully capitalised and able to immediately write new business and renew policies across all jurisdictions” - language that makes little sense without the regulatory context.
Wakam UK, a separately regulated entity authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), was unaffected by the ACPR ban throughout. Mark Christer, chief executive of Wakam UK, had confirmed in late September 2026 that the UK subsidiary remained solvent, profitable, and growing, with a solvency capital requirement coverage ratio of 216%.
The acquisition gives AmTrust International a licensed French insurer with 29 European passports, a white-label embedded insurance technology platform, more than 230 employees, according to the deal announcement, and an established network of MGA distribution partners across the continent. Wakam’s Play&Plug technology enables rapid co-creation and deployment of embedded insurance products through open application programming interfaces (APIs), a capability AmTrust lacked at this scale in Europe
AmTrust International’s existing six core product lines - property, mortgage and credit, warranty, professional lines, legal expenses, and medical malpractice - are primarily distributed through MGA and broker partnerships in the UK and Europe. Wakam’s delegated underwriting model and MGA relationships sit naturally alongside that approach, while also opening niche product categories, particularly in embedded and affinity lines, that extend beyond AmTrust’s current portfolio.
Peter Dewey, head of international at AmTrust, said the acquisition aligned with the company’s established direction. “As a leading specialty carrier with six core products, this acquisition is an exciting opportunity to expand into new niche products and geographies,” he said.
Olivier Jaillon, chairman and founder of Wakam, pointed to the financial stability the deal provides. “AmTrust brings the financial strength, underwriting and actuarial expertise, and commitment needed to support our long-term success,” he said.
The timing of the acquisition reflects conditions in the European MGA market, where carrier capacity is the principal constraint on growth. Europe’s MGA gross written premium reached approximately US$23 billion (around £17.2 billion) in 2025, up 15% year-on-year and growing at roughly twice the pace of the US market, according to Howden Re’s second annual European MGA report. The UK remained the largest single market at approximately €8.35 billion (around £7.2 billion). Demand for carrier paper, particularly from fronting and embedded insurance platforms, has outpaced supply in several segments, a dynamic that creates acquisition opportunities for well-capitalised carriers willing to step into platforms that need financial backing.
Wakam’s MGA partners had been managing the uncertainty of an operational carrier under regulatory restriction. AmTrust’s acquisition resolves that by placing a carrier rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best behind the platform, restoring the continuity that distribution partners require to place and renew business. That capacity stability for MGA and delegated authority networks has been a recurring pressure point in the UK and European market, as MGA premium volumes continue to expand faster than available insurance paper can reliably support.
