Insurance industry deal activity drops

Deal activity in the US insurance industry dropped 17.3% in December compared to the last 12-month average, according to GlobalData’s deals database.

Forty-three deals worth $9.02 billion were announced in December, down from the 12-month average of 52 deals. M&A was the leading category in terms of volume with 31 deals, accounting for 72.1% of the total. Venture financing followed with 11 deals, while private equity accounted for one transaction.

M&A was also the leading category in terms of value, with deals totaling $8.27 billion. Venture financing deals totaled $703.59 million, while private equity accounted for $50 million.

The top five insurance industry deals accounted for 99.2% of overall deal value in December, according to GlobalData. The combined value of the top five deals was $8.96 billion.

The top five insurance industry deals were:

• New York Life Insurance’s $6.3 billion asset transaction with Cigna.
• Resolution Live Holdings’ $1.25 billion asset transaction with Voya Financial.
• IA Financial Group’s $720 million acquisition of IAS Parent Holdings.
• The $635 million venture financing of Bright Health by Bessemer Venture Partners, Cross Creek Advisors, Declaration Partners, Flare Capital Partners, Greenspring Associates, Meritech Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Redpoint Ventures and Town Hall Ventures.
• Leadenhall Capital Partners and Peloton Equity’s private equity deal with Friday Health Plans for $50 million.