AUB Group has agreed to acquire Strata Unit Underwriters (SUU) from IAG for an undisclosed sum as it looks to boost its presence in the market.

AUB CEO Mike Emmett says SUU is a “highly regarded” agency, writing $130 million in premium across Australia, including north Queensland.

“The acquisition together with our existing strata agency, Longitude, will allow AUB Group to commence our planned expansion in the strata sector in Australia,” Mr Emmett said.

Longitude already writes $80 million in premium and Mr Emmett told insuranceNEWS.com.au that the SUU acquisition pushes AUB up from fifth largest player in the strata market to second, behind Steadfast.

“We were significantly underweight in strata and this gives us a decent ramp up in scale,” he said.

More acquisitions could follow, as AUB looks to pass the $300 million premium mark in strata.

SUU will continue to be underwritten by IAG. In a note on its website SUU says the relationship between the two companies “remains incredibly strong”, while welcoming the AUB acquisition.

“Importantly, for SUU and our valued customers, brokers and supply partners, we continue to operate under our existing arrangements and approaches,” the note says.

“There will be no change to the current processes and external arrangements. SUU will continue to work with all of our existing partners on delivering mutually beneficial outcomes in the same manner as we have previously.

“Importantly, SUU and Longitude will continue to operate as two separate offerings and provide ongoing choice in a highly competitive strata insurance marketplace.”