Reinsurer Conduit Holdings lays out plans for London IPO

Conduit Holdings will proceed with plans to list $1.1bn new shares on the London Stock Exchange's main market.

The newly established reinsurance underwriter was founded by Neil Eckert and Trevor Carney to capitalise on what they believed is an "exceptional" market opportuity for a company focused on reinsurance in the property, casualty and specialty classes.

Its "strong and unencumbered" balance sheet will be "fully available" to write new business, unencumbered by legacy exposures, the company added.

Commenting on their plans Neil Eckert said; "Trevor and I have traded in hard markets before, but we believe these are exceptional times by any standards and a really opportunistic time to launch a new reinsurance company bringing fresh capital and a very focused business plan to the market.

"We are enthused by the industry support we have had whilst developing our ideas for Conduit and look forward to opening for business."

The company would operate as a Bermudian reinsurer and target returns on equity in the mid-teens.