Peter Blanc outlines priorities in new Howden M&A role  

Blanc will oversee a £1b war chest for acquisitions and talent recruitment after Howden completed a major refinancing.  

He was previously chairman of Howden UK, with a focus on the overseeing acquisitions in the UK. 

Blanc said Europe was ‘extremely important’ right now for the broking group’s strategic focus.  

Speaking to Insurance Age following the appointment, he continued: “My global remit is to help up us grow in all of our chosen markets and to consider expansion into new markets. 

“It’s to look at broking, underwriting and health and benefits opportunities, working with our regional leaders and Howden’s well-established network of partners around the world. 

“Naturally the UK is still a major focus for us, but Europe is extremely important right now.” 

The new role comes as the broking group sealed a £500m seven-year loan with more than 60 lenders, including 10 fresh lenders. The revolving credit facility – a form of overdraft – was boosted from £185m to £360m with banks. 

Blanc and David Howden relationship 

The new role will bring Blanc even closer to group chief executive David Howden.  

Howden outlined Blanc’s qualities following the deal.  

Blanc previously told Insurance Age of his aim was to double the size of the business Aston Lark following the purchase by Howden in October 2021.  

Howden said: “It is Peter who, in bringing Aston Lark to Howden, coined the phrase ‘forever home’.  

“Having built Aston Lark from the ground up through his well-recognised ability to identify and execute high quality transactions with a deep-rooted cultural alignment he is obviously very well-placed to support me and our leadership teams in the further development of our very healthy M&A pipeline as we begin the next chapter of our development.” 

Howden outlines ambitions   

Howden is supported by key investors including General Atlantic which came onboard in 2013, CDPQ in 2018 and Hg Capital in 2021. 

Howden said: “With the formation of HowdenTiger in January we have completed the architecture of the Group.  

“With the £2bn revenue milestone passed and with 14,500 employees across 50 countries and $30bn (£24.1bn) of GWP, we have the scale and leverage to be the difference that clients and talent are seeking.”

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