AXA XL acquires Secure Legal Title

Re/insurer AXA XL has completed the acquisition of Secure Legal Title, a London-based insurance agency and Lloyd’s approved coverholder, with major operations in the UK, Europe, India and the Americas.

Founded in 2012, Secure Legal Title provides insurance to cover legal risks in property transactions and mortgage finance. Secure Legal Title’s products include title insurance, legal indemnities, and title to shares insurance for real estate merger & acquisition transactions. The firm’s clients are real estate equity investors and developers, energy and infrastructure investors and developers, and mortgage lenders.

AXA XL has also entered into an agreement to acquire Armour Secure Insurance (ASI), a Mexican title insurance company affiliated with Secure Legal Title, subject to all applicable regulatory approvals. Pending completion of the acquisition, Secure Legal Title and ASI will continue their close collaboration in providing title insurance to the Mexican market.

“We are delighted to officially welcome our Secure Legal Title colleagues to AXA XL,” said Stephen Ashwell, chief underwriting officer – crisis management & special risks, at AXA XL. “Secure Legal Title will continue to operate under its brand and will be managed by its co-founders, Sean Dalton, Joel Peck and Jean-Bernard Wurm. We expect that the combination of their market-leading expertise and experience with AXA XL’s additional capacity, global network presence and resources will enable Secure Legal Title to further strengthen its position in this specialised marketplace and present a more attractive proposition to clients of theirs and ours.”

Sean Dalton, Chairman of Secure Legal Title, added: “With this transaction, Secure Legal Title builds on its long relationship with AXA XL and its insurers, as well as with Lloyd’s in London and in Brussels. There are natural synergies between AXA XL’s property and casualty business and Secure Legal Title’s real estate business, and we are confident that our clients will benefit from access to AXA XL’s infrastructure and additional capacity.”