DLA Piper advises on the acquisition of UK broker Aston Lark by rival Howden

DLA Piper has advised the management team of UK insurance broker Aston Lark on its acquisition by Howden, the international insurance broking group, from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Bowmark Capital.

The transaction marks Howden’s largest acquisition to date and creates a UK business managing over GBP6 billion of gross written premium for more than 1.7 million policyholders who are served by over 5,000 employees from 160 locations in the UK and Ireland. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Aston Lark is one of the UK’s largest independent insurance brokers specialising in complex commercial and private client insurance and employee benefit advice, placing over GBP1bn of gross written premiums for 200,000 clients, on behalf of the UK’s leading insurers.

The DLA Piper team was led by European Head of Private Equity, Tim Wright assisted by senior associate Philip Allenby and associate Harriet Brooker.

Peter Blanc, Aston Lark CEO, said: “The DLA Piper team’s detailed knowledge of market, persistence in getting the best terms for the team and their commitment to the deal were hugely helpful.”

DLA Piper’s Management Advisory team has now acted for over 65 management teams in the last five years with a combined enterprise value of over EUR71.5 billion.