Ryan Specialty Group Registers With SEC For IPO Up To $100 Million

Chicago-based specialty wholesale brokerage Ryan Specialty Group has: filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissionn (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of up to $100 million.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

Upon completion of the proposed IPO, Ryan Specialty Group Holdings will be the sole lead member of Ryan Specialty Group, LLC and will exclusively manage and control all operations and affairs.

Founded by Patrick G. Ryan in 2010, RSG is a supplier of specialty products to insurance brokers, agents and carriers. It provides distribution, underwriting, product development, administration and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and managing insurer.

Ryan Specialty Group Holdings plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “RYAN”.

RSG is the second largest wholesale real estate/accident insurance broker in the US and the third largest general agency and insurer for real estate/accident management in the US. The distribution network has more than 650 producers who have access to more than 15,500 private insurance companies and more than 200 carriers for deductibles and redundant lines.

Since 2010, RSG has made 40 acquisitions in various specialties and regions. In September 2020, RSG acquired All Risks Specialty, the fourth largest wholesale distributor. RSG says the acquisition of All Risks has improved many of its strategic priorities and improved its competitive position. The company is currently merging All Risks Specialty’s binding authority service model and premium scale with its proprietary technology platform, The Connector, which will allow retail customers to receive quotes and bind policies online.

For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 and the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, RSG generated the following:

In its SEC filing, RSG notes that more than 70% of the total premiums it places go to the excess and excess lines market, which has grown faster than the admitted market. It believes the higher growth of the E&S market is due to the “shift towards complex risks”, which it says will “isolate the E&S market from broader economic” trends. It expects this proliferation of complex risks to continue, citing cyber threats, health risks and the digital economy.

The company believes it has several competitive advantages, including “robust” access to capital, freedom from channel conflicts with its retail insurance brokerage clients, and its platform that can drive revenue and cost synergies.

“We believe that as the complexity of the E&S market continues to escalate, wholesale brokers who do not have the scale or the financial and intellectual capital to invest in the required specialist capabilities will struggle to compete effectively. This will further the trend of consolidating market share among the wholesale insurance brokers that have these capabilities,” the company wrote.

RSG believes it can grow as a broker of choice in an industry where retail brokers and carriers are consolidating and constraining the wholesalers they do business with. In addition, the Connector technology enables it to better serve private insurance brokers by efficiently placing their smaller premium accounts.

RSG said it has identified certain markets as potential near-term growth opportunities: cyber, unowned rental cars, and New York living quarters.