Dealings have started in Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings, which services and acquires insurance companies running off old policies.

Ken Randall, a veteran of the Lloyd’s insurance market and long-time specialist in run-off business, is chairman and chief executive officer of the company, which has raised £20 million of new money at 125p through Numis Securities, to value the company at nearly £70 million. Noble is nominated adviser to Randall & Quilter, whose existing shareholders have sold £11 million worth of shares at the same price.

The company says it wants to buy and administer solvent insurance companies in run-off. That is when they are no longer writing new policies but are paying claims and investing premiums on old ones.

Randall is an experienced player in this field, having first made a name for himself running off Lloyd’s insurance underwriting syndicates. The board says it intends to pay a dividend of 4.8p a share for 2008, giving the shares a prospective yield of around 3.8 per cent at the placing price.

They should have specialist appeal.

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