International law firm HFW has continued its run of insurance M&A deals, advising private equity firm Livingbridge on the management buyout of one of the UK's leading independent insurance brokers, Coversure Insurance Services Group (CISG).

It is the fourth insurance intermediary M&A transaction that HFW has acted on in the past 12 months. HFW advised the sellers of a majority stake in Miles Smith Insurance Group to private equity firm Pollen Street Capital, and also acted on the acquisitions of CORGI Homeplan and CETA Insurance. HFW also advised MGA Sciemus on an investment by Hudson Structured Capital Management.

CISG comprises online wholesaler Policyfast, specialist underwriters CUL, software house Datamatters, and insurance broker franchise Coversure. It has 93 offices across the UK.

Mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge will work closely with the CISG management team to expand the operation via acquisitions, new locations and the services offered. Further growth will be delivered by extending the product range, accessibility and investment in technology.

Tim Wright will join Coversure's management team as non-executive Chairman as part of the deal, which is set to complete later this year, subject to regulatory approval. Tim was previously Head of Corporate Risk & Broking at Willis Towers Watson and, before that, Chief Executive of Willis International.

Livingbridge has invested in more than 100 businesses and has particular expertise in the insurance sector, having previously invested in Kinsbridge Risk Solutions, among others. Simon Peet and Xavier Woodward of Livingbridge will be joining CISG as non-executive Directors.

HFW advised on the insurance and regulatory law aspects of the CISG deal. The firm's team was led by London insurance partner Richard Spiller and also included associates Nazim Alom and Margarita Kato, and trainee Kirsten Wright.

London-based law firm Travers Smith advised Livingbridge on the corporate and commercial law aspects of the CISG deal.