Skyward Specialty Insurance to acquire 100% of Apollo Group Holdings for $555M

Skyward Specialty Insurance (SKWD) Group announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with the majority sellers to acquire 100% of Apollo Group Holdings for a total consideration of $555M from Alchemy, management, employees, and other strategic investors. Employees and strategic investors will receive $184M of stock consideration, while the remaining $371M will be paid in cash, with committed debt financing in place. The transaction is expected to deliver double-digit adjusted operating EPS accretion in the first full year post closing while adding more than $1.5B of managed premium(3), further reinforcing Skyward Specialty’s position as a leader in U.S. specialty markets. Apollo is a specialty underwriting platform operating at Lloyd’s of London that is low volatility, high growth and employs a capital light business model. The business has grown gross written premium at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 20% since its formation in 2010. The acquisition is well aligned to Skyward Specialty’s strategy, bringing new specialty niches, a distinctive new economy offering, accelerating innovation, and adding Apollo’s advanced technology capabilities. Leading Apollo’s growth and development since joining the company in 2012 is CEO, David Ibeson, who, along with Apollo’s entrepreneurial and dynamic management team, will join Skyward Specialty and continue to lead the Apollo business. The transaction is expected to close in the Q1 of FY26, subject to regulatory approvals. Barclays acted as financial advisor to Skyward Specialty and provided committed financing for the transaction. RPC acted as legal counsel to Skyward Specialty. Evercore acted as lead financial advisor, with Howden Capital Markets & Advisory as financial advisor to Apollo. Willkie Farr & Gallagher acted as legal counsel to Apollo.