Fosun Group Insurance Unit Files for IPO in U.S.

Ironshore Inc., a property-casualty insurer owned by an arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, has filed for an initial public offering in the U.S.

Bermuda-based Ironshore, founded in December 2006, has grown in part via international expansion and acquisitions. According its filing, gross premiums increased from $383.1 million in 2008 to $2.16 billion last year.

Revenue fell to $1.65 billion in 2015 from $1.68 billion in 2014, while net income fell to $57.8 from $84.5 million.

Ironshore said in March that an IPO was under consideration. Last month, Fosun International Ltd. said it submitted an application to the Hong Kong stock exchange seeking approval for a spinoff and separate listing of Ironshore.

Fosun bought a 20% stake in Ironshore for about $463.8 million in early 2015 and acquired the remaining 80% later in the year for about $1.84 billion.

Fosun Group, which is run by chairman and co-founder Guo Guangchang, has operations ranging from mining to real estate. Last year, it bought Michigan-based Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. for about $433 million.

Fosun said in June that it voluntarily notified the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States about the Ironshore deal. Ironshore said in the filing that it expects final results of the CFIUS review before its registration statement becomes effective.

Ironshore filed to offer up to $100 million of stock in the IPO but that is a placeholder amount likely to change. The joint book-running managers are BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and UBS.

Write to Josh Beckerman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 22, 2016 18:15 ET (22:15 GMT)

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