UK Lloyd’s wholesale broker Tysers sees opportunities for further expansion following its acquisition by AUB Group, which announced in May a deal to buy the business for $880 million.

“[AUB is] brilliant at doing retail, [it has a] brilliant retail broker network and the combination for me was very powerful,” Tysers CEO Clive Buesnel says in an interview with the UK-based Voice of Insurance Podcast.

“We really want to unlock that [hard-to-place business in Australia] and say ‘look if we do our job well, we will be able to unlock more capacity and more ability to place Australian business into London’.”

He says his “ambition was to get the right new owner” for Tysers and believes AUB is the right company to take the sixth largest wholesale broker in the Lloyd’s market forward.

“They are a very powerful broker, second biggest in Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Buesnel said. “They also have a relentless focus on the customers that’s very much part of their DNA.”

He says looking ahead the focus is on “bringing better products and services to the customers and allowing AUB to grow and expand by having a really sophisticated central placement capability.”

“This is not an integration exercise around two marine teams coming together at all or two retail businesses coming together,” Mr Buesnel said.

“It’s how do we create a more efficient value chain focused on the customer. We’re really excited.”

AUB said the acquisition of Tysers, which writes annual gross premium of $3.6 billion, will transform the company, expanding its operations and specialist capabilities and offering direct access to the Lloyd’s market.

“This is a bold and significant step for AUB Group and not one we have taken lightly,” CEO Mike Emmett said in May after the acquisition was announced.

“An investment in Tysers unlocks the potential for an acceleration in profit growth whilst also enabling AUB Group to strengthen our broking and agency propositions for clients.”

AUB says it expects to complete the acquisition in the first half of this financial year, subject to regulatory approvals.