Investment firm Kelso Group Holdings said on Tuesday it had bought 400,000 shares in British travel company firm and submitted proposals to its board aimed at boosting value, including attracting more U.S. investors.
Kelso’s investment, worth 1.55 million pounds ($2.1 million), gives it a 0.3% stake in Saga, which had a market value of 552.1 million pounds as of Monday’s close.
Saga, which targets customers aged over 50 and offers services from cruises to insurance, has recovered from pandemic-related losses in recent years, helped by steady profitability, driven by strong travel demand and a strategic overhaul of its insurance arm.
Kelso also holds stakes in cybersecurity firm NCC Group, e-commerce firm THG, and investment vehicle Selkirk.
($1 = 0.7378 pounds)
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; editing by Rashmi Aich)
The fires were also followed by rate requests as the state’s insurance commissioner scrambled to offer quick rate hikes to get insurers to stay.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in March provisionally approved State Farm’s request for a 22% interim homeowners insurance rate hike. State Farm is the largest homeowners insurer in California.
In a statement, State Farm said, “It’s time for certainty in the California insurance market for our customers. The provisional nature of today’s decision does not improve that certainty but it’s a step in the right direction. We are moving forward with implementing this provisionally approved rate and will continue to work with the California Department of Insurance for a sustainable future for the California insurance market.”
The carrier wasn’t done asking for rate. And a report from a climate activist group says State Farm’s rate increases, if approved, would cost the average California homeowner more than $1,000.
State Farm upped its rate request in May, a week after getting the OK for a large rate hike to what the company had originally wanted before being rejected and agreeing to an interim deal for an increase. The wildfire-bitten insurer got approval for a 17% rate increase following billions of dollars in losses from the Los Angeles wildfires and pullback on writing new policies in the state.
Homeowners Suing USAA and AAA Insurers Over LA Wildfires
Some homeowners who lost their homes in the L.A. wildfires filed lawsuits in June against three large carriers over claims payouts they say didn’t cover their losses.
The lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, say USAA and two AAA affiliated insurers underestimated the replacement cost of their homes and left them underinsured and without enough money to replace or rebuild their homes after the Jan. 7 wildfires.
The lawsuits allege fraud and negligence, and they seek unspecified damages.
Lawsuits against carriers and others over the wildfires have been piling up. A communications contractor for Los Angeles County was blamed in a lawsuit in November for 18 deaths in the Eaton Wildfire over its alleged failure to evacuate residents in the path of the inferno.