Dual Asia Pacific is looking for more acquisition opportunities after last week announcing it has moved into the M&A arena with the purchase of a controlling interest in New Zealand’s International Underwriting Agencies (IUA).

“Our organic growth has been so strong for so long that it is only now that we have decided to pursue acquisitions, and hopefully this will be the first of more to come,” CEO Damien Coates told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We will be looking to make further acquisitions of specialty lines underwriting agencies where we believe we can deliver value to our broking partners in Australia, New Zealand and in Asia.”

Mr Coates says the company, owned by the UK-based Hyperion Insurance Group, has delivered 15% compound annual growth for 15 years, becoming a $220 million premium business across four countries and with seven offices.

Dual, which specialises in liability, said last week it has further expanded with the purchase of a 51% interest in IUA, creating the largest specialty underwriting agency in New Zealand.

Auckland-based IUA has annual premium of more than $NZ30 million ($28 million) and has support from a spread of Lloyd’s syndicates. The firm, which also operates from Christchurch, was established in 1997 and has core expertise in property.

Directors Mike and Debbie Street say Dual is a logical partner given shared values and the opportunity to leverage its digital expertise and complementary product capability.

“Having a global partner like the Hyperion Group was a natural fit for us with the career development opportunities for our team a major contributing factor in choosing Dual,” they said.

Dual and IUA will operate independently under the Streets’ leadership, reporting into Mr Coates for the time being, given current circumstances around the coronavirus pandemic and business requirements.

“As we enter peak trading periods we want to minimise disruptions to our broking partners and one way to achieve this is to delay the full integration including co-location to later in the year,” Mr Coates said.