Goldman takes 50 per cent stake in insurer Hastings
American investment bank Goldman Sachs has taken a 50 per cent stake in UK motor insurer Hastings. The deal will see Hastings valued at £700m.
Talk of a deal has been around since August when it emerged that Goldman Sachs was thought to have turned to capital markets to raise money from a bond issue.
The remainder of Hastings stock will remain in the hands of the team that took Hastings from Australian insurer IAG in 2009. Hastings was launched in 1997 and is now led by former Northern Rock boss Gary Hoffman.
Gary Hoffman, chief executive of Hastings, said that "Hastings is a fast growing, successful general insurance business" and that they are "proud of what we do but know we can get better".