Warranty & Indemnity Insurance

Warranty and Indemnity (W&I) policies are used as a strategic risk transfer tool to give protection to either the buyer or seller against financial losses suffered as a result of an unexpected breach of warranty or claim under a tax indemnity. Tailored protection is provided by the insurance market to the insured for unknown issues such as financial statement errors or undisclosed regulatory matters.

W&I insurance can be purchased by either a buyer or a seller however the buy-side policy is largely used to afford the seller a clean exit and provide the buyer a direct means of recourse as an alternative to pursuing the existing warrantors in the event of a claim. Buy-side policies are often initiated by a seller (or management team, private equity firm, infrastructure fund, bank, real estate firm or corporate) as part of an auction process and the policy is then ‘stapled’ to the transaction.

Process

The BMS Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions and Tax team will work with you to ensure that the W&I process works as efficiently as possible in tandem with the M&A transaction timeline. The policy is designed to support rather than replace the underlying transaction and insurers will require a robust due diligence and disclosure process to be carried out.

Premium

The premium is calculated as a rate-on-line of the policy limit being purchased. There are various factors which will affect this rate such as the nature and jurisdiction of the target business being bought, the governing law of the transaction, the scope of the warranties and whether any specific enhancements to the policy are required. These variables will be discussed at the outset of the transaction and the one-off premium will be payable once completion of the transaction has occurred.

The benefits of using W&I

Buyer Benefits

  • Mitigates risk of seller covenant strength
  • Certainty when investing in a new asset class / geography
  • Protects ongoing business relationships with management
  • Extends out insufficient SPA limitation periods
  • Bid differentiation in competitive auction process
  • Satisfy corporate governance requirements
  • Proceeds of claims can be assigned to a lender

Seller Benefits

  • Clean exit / nil recourse
  • Immediately realise sales proceeds
  • Balance sheet protection post completion
  • Prevent price chips or holdbacks


Mutual Benefits

  • Removes significant obstacle
  • Mitigates difficult negotiations
  • Bridges gaps on uncertain exposures
  • Affirmative cover for certain known risks
  • Synthetic packages may be utilised

Exclusions

W&I insurance policies will usually exclude matters that are known to the insured including matters disclosed by the seller or within the buyer’s actual knowledge. Forward looking statements, certain fines and penalties, pension underfunding and post completion purchase price adjustments are often excluded. There may also be deal specific exclusions depending on the underlying transaction i.e. target industry, jurisdiction or a specific risk that has been identified in the due diligence process.

Pawar Tan

Tan Pawar

Head of Private Equity and M&A

T: +44 (0)20 7480 0264
M: +44 (0)7341 133 007
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Andrews Dean

Dean Andrews

Executive Director, Head of Tax and Contingent Liability Insurance

T: +44 (0)20 7480 0308
M: +44 (0)7876 815 643
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Wallace Sophie

Sophie Wallace

Director

T: +44 (0)20 7480 0378
M: +44 (0)7824 605 613
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Matthew Gillam

Director

T: +44 (0)7353 097 262
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Kemp Simon

Simon Kemp

Group General Counsel

T: +44 (0)20-7480-7288
M: +44 (0)7825-844-988
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Matthew Grice

Divisional Director

M: +44 (0)7776 568 847
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William Banks

Associate Director, Secondaries

M: +44 (0)7353 097 250
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Rian Bahia

Associate Director

M: +44 (0)7823 672 455
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Kanwar Chandini

Chandini Kanwar

Associate Director

T: +44 (0)20 7374 5990
M: +44 (0)7825 421 394
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Marcus Christie

Associate Director

T: +44 (0)20 7374 5937
M: +44 (0)7826 532 908
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UK

One America Square
London EC3N 2LS
United Kingdom

T: +44 (0)20 7480 7288

FREILICH eric

Eric Freilich

Director, Legal Counsel, Private Equity and M&A

M: +1 647 533 9699
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Allen logan

Logan Allen

Director, Private Equity and M&A

M: +1 416-722-8171
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Toronto

161 Bay Street, Suite 4140,
Toronto, ON M5J 2S1

Lee Sandra

Sandra Lee

CEO & Head of PEMAT, Asia

T: +852 3579 5485
M: +852 9255 7088
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De Lange Martijn

Martijn de Lange

Managing Director - PEMAT

T: +852 3579 5486
M: +852 9772 9951
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Jayasundara Nelumi

Nelumi Jayasundara

Senior Associate - PEMAT

M: +852 9801 3916
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Hong Kong

20/F Leighton Centre
77 Leighton Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Godden Andrew

Andrew Godden

Chief Executive Officer - Australia

M: +61 (0) 432-805-729
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Sydney

Level 3,
222 Clarence Street,
Sydney NSW 2000

T: +61 (2) 9165 3511

Ong Rae

Rae Ong

Business Development Lead - PEMAT

M: +65 9783 5566
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Ryan Heng

Director - PEMAT

M: +65 8792 6334
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Ryan Soh

Associate - PEMAT

T: +65 9792 5282
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Singapore

61 Robinson Road,
#09-05,
Singapore 068893

T: +65 6018 0537

Claro Fernando

Fernando Claro

Chief Executive Officer, Iberia

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Schmitz Kai

Kai Schmitz

Head of Tax Insurance – Iberia

M: +34 672 334 459
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Ricardo Lecaro

Ricardo Lecaro Manrique

Head of M&A Insurance – Iberia

M: +34 677 741 647
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Madrid

Paseo de la Castellana 28, entreplanta
28046 Madrid

T: +34 91 419 76 40

Yongtak Lee

Yongtak Lee

CEO & Managing Director

T: +82 2 6405 1021
M: +82 10 3110 2807
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Cha Chloe

Chloe Cha

Associate Director

T: +82 2 6405 1021
M: +82 10 7164 7071
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Seoul

S-Tower Kwanghwamun Co-Workers,
Sinmun-ro 1-ga, #1818 18F,
82 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu,
Seoul 03185

T: +82 2-723-1800

Schmitz Kai

Kai Schmitz

Head of Tax Insurance – Iberia

M: +34 672 334 459
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Ricardo Lecaro

Ricardo Lecaro Manrique

Head of M&A Insurance – Iberia

M: +34 677 741 647
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Miami (US)

800 Brickell Avenue
Suite 350, Miami, Florida 33131

T: +1 786-581-1896

Hewitt Tim

Tim Hewitt

Head of BMS Japan/ Managing Director

M: +81 70 9127 2075
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Tokyo

Pacific Century Place 13F,
1-11-1 Marunouchi,
Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo