New Delhi, Nov. 24 -- Ace Insurance Brokers, which is private equity firm Blackstone's latest acquisition in India, has appointed former Mercer executive Arvind Laddha as president.

Laddha will report to Raj Ajmera and Anil Arora, the founders and promoters of Ace Insurance Brokers, who will continue as joint managing directors of the company.

Laddha comes with over two decades of experience in health assurance, consulting, and insurance brokerage firms. He founded Vantage Insurance Brokers, which was acquired by JLT Independent Insurance Brokers, and later became part of another multinational insurance broker Marsh. Most recently, he served as the President of India at Mercer.

In the new role, Laddha will work closely with the Ace leadership team to strengthen emerging business lines including employee benefits and other specialised verticals, and to support Ace's network expansion nationally.

The appointment marks a significant step in Ace Insurance Brokers' growth strategy as the company continues to expand its market presence, Blackstone said in a press note.

Additionally, the company has appointed former Insurance Dekho executive Puneet Kumar as chief financial officer, and former Policy Bazaar executive Puneet Khurana as the head of human resources.

These appointments come after Blackstone acquired a 65% stake in the insurance broker, with the founders holding the remaining 35% stake in the company. The deal valued the company at around $350-400 million (Rs 3,134-3,581 crore), sources aware of the development told VCCircle.

Ace Insurance Brokers

Founded 24 years ago, Ace is a composite insurance and reinsurance intermediary registered with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). The company has a presence in over 15 cities.

The company's clients include Adani Group, DLF Group, M3M, Nexus Select Trust, Horizon Housing, MagicBricks, Brookfield Property Partners, and Aadhar Housing Finance among others.

The insurance broker provides insurance and reinsurance broking services in major lines of businesses such as property, transit insurance, liabilities, surety, miscellaneous and employee benefits.

The company's bottomline rose to nearly Rs 142 crore in FY24 from Rs 126 crore the year before, data from VCCEdge showed. Total income rose to nearly Rs 256 crore in FY24 from Rs 224 crore.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.