Sept 17 (Reuters) - Orion180 Insurance on Thursday priced its US initial public offering below its targeted range and raised $240 million, joining a growing pipeline of insurers testing investor appetite as the fall listing season gathers momentum.
The Melbourne, Florida-based company sold 20 million shares at $12 apiece, below its indicated price range of $15 to $17.
The fall IPO season is shaking off early macroeconomic headwinds, with activity set to rebound as insurers and high-profile candidates
prepare to go public.
CVC-backed Bamboo Insurance launched its roadshow this week seeking to raise as much as $700 million, while Hellman & Friedman-backed Hub International confidentially filed papers in June.
Founded in 2018 by Kenneth Gregg, Orion180 provides excess and surplus lines homeowners insurance across 14 U.S. states. Its key markets include Texas, California and Florida.
"Both Orion180 and Bamboo cite lower-than-average loss ratios on policies, driven by their underwriting platforms; both are also growing quickly, which should appeal to investors," said Nicholas Einhorn, vice president, research, at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
"But we've seen in the last few years that investors in insurance IPOs scrutinize the companies closely and those companies have sometimes had to prove themselves post-IPO."
RBC Capital Markets, UBS Investment Bank and Raymond James are lead book-running managers. Orion180 will begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the symbol "OIG".
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita and Nethra Sailesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
