Owen Ross

Practice Areas

Owen is a partner in the CMS financial services group, he advises insurers, reinsurers, Lloyd’s businesses and capital providers on transactional matters.

Much of his work is capital driven and he has assisted clients on a wide variety of risk transfer and corporate transactions, including mixed reinsurance and M&A combinations, asset and longevity structures, whole of business reinsurance and back book / forward book splits. Alongside Jenny Nanalal and Thom Lockley, Owen is part of the Insurance, Risk and Capital Transactions group, which has been hugely successful, becoming the largest team in the City for bespoke insurance and pensions risk transactions.

Owen has significant corporate finance expertise and has advised a range of blue chip and new entrant players on complex acquisitions, divestments and partnership arrangements in the insurance and asset management market.

Work Highlights

-Phoenix Group Holdings on the simplification of its strategic partnership with abrdn, including the sale of the SLAL UK investment and platform-related products, comprising Wrap Self Invested Personal Pension, Onshore Bond and UK Trustee Investment Plan and the acquisition of the “Standard Life” brand.

-MetLife on the sale of its Polish and Greek business to NN.

-Phoenix Group Holdings on (1) the £2.9 billion acquisition of Standard Life Assurance Limited from Standard Life Aberdeen plc, (2) the related long-term strategic partnership arrangements with Standard Life Aberdeen plc, (3) the acquisition of Abbey Life from Deutsche ---Bank AG for £935 million and (4) the acquisition of ReAssure from Swiss Re and MS&AD.

-The funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC in their joint acquisition of AmTrust alongside members of the Karfunkel-Zyskind family.

-TDR Capital LLP and MGM Advantage Holdings Limited on the sale of the MGM group of companies to Canada Life.

-A novel whole of business reinsurance and fronting arrangement to remove historic risks from a newly acquired reinsurer.

-Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd. (part of the MS&AD Group) on its takeover of Amlin for £3.5 billion and various internal matters, including the combination of its two Lloyd’s syndicates and the reorganisation of its Lloyd’s businesses.

-Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. in its US$6.3 billion merger with Sompo Holdings, Inc. and various reorganisations and regulatory matters.

-The transferor in relation to the £4 billion court-sanctioned insurance business transfer of pensions and insurance assets.

-Rothesay on the acquisition of a Scottish Widows £6bn bulk annuity portfolio from Scottish Widows, a member of the Lloyds Banking Group.

-Cigna on the sale of its corporate medical and health business to BUPA and the sale of its dental business to Unum.

-Warwick Re on a £400mn quota share funded reinsurance, being Warwick Re’s inaugural transaction.

Industry Sector Expertise

Insurance, Employment and Pensions, Financial Institutions

Education