Lancashire Holdings Ltd. shares slumped after a report said the insurer had dismissed both the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Cathedral Capital Ltd., the Lloyd’s of London firm it acquired in 2013.
Cathedral’s CEO Peter Scales and CFO John Lynch, both founding partners, were released from their jobs last week and more staff may follow, The Insurance Insider reported on Monday without saying where they got the information. Scales and Lynch were not immediately available to comment. Lancashire declined to comment. Scales and Lynch have held their jobs since 2000, according to Lancashire’s website.
The shares slumped as much as 15.4 percent, the most in seven years, and were down 11.1 percent at 582 pence at 4:10 p.m. in London. The stock had climbed by more than 30 percent this year before Monday, boosted by speculation Lancashire may be the next Lloyd’s insurer in line for a takeover after Amlin Plc agreed to be bought by a Japanese firm.
Lancashire gained access to Lloyd’s, the world’s oldest insurance market, after buying Cathedral for 266 million pounds from Alchemy Partners and Cathedral’s management in 2013. The Lloyd’s insurer, which covers risks ranging from aviation to terrorism, helped Lancashire to “slightly offset” a decline in premiums elsewhere, the company told analysts in July.
A spokesman for Lloyd’s of London declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.
©2015 Bloomberg News
Sarah Jones
