Hippo Insurance acquires US P&C insurer Spinnaker Insurance Company

Home insurance company Hippo Insurance has acquired US-based national property and casualty insurer Spinnaker Insurance Company.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Hippo and Spinnaker have been partners since 2017, with the insurer backing Hippo products in over 18 US states. By acquiring Spinnaker, which is licensed in all 50 US states, Hippo hopes to expand its geographical reach.

Following the close of the deal, Hippo will continue to operate as a managing general agent with a portion of its premiums underwritten by Spinnaker and balance underwritten by other carrier partners.

Spinnaker will operate independently under Hippo and will continue to service a range of portfolio of top-quality programme administrators.

Hippo chief insurance officer Rick McCathron said, “Bringing Spinnaker into the Hippo family is a natural next step in growing our proactive home insurance offering.

“Spinnaker knows the complexities of our industry, mirrors our same standards for technology innovation and customer experience and has continued to meet, oftentimes exceeding, our expectations over the years. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made as partners and look forward to closing the acquisition.”

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and TigerRisk Capital Markets & Advisory advised Spinnaker on the transaction. Hippo was advised by Latham & Watkins, LLP.

Hippo, which offers home insurance policies, uses data-driven pricing and real-time underwriting to analyse public datasets, including municipal building records and satellite imagery of physical property characteristics.

Hippo Insurance recently formed a partnership with home security system builder SimpliSafe. The deal gives Hippo customers access to a professionally monitored home alarm system from SimpliSafe.

This includes a seven-piece home security system comprised of a HD camera, two water sensors, a smoke detector, a window or door entry sensor, keypad and base station.

Last year, Hippo closed its Series D round on $100m, with investments coming from Bond, Comcast Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Fifth Wall, Hillhouse Capital, Horizons Ventures and a number of other firms.

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