Issue 1 2019

Acquisition International - Issue 1 2019 43 Liberty Global Transaction Solutions (GTS) is one of the largest global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) insurance teams in the industry. Recently, we caught up with the President at Liberty GTS, Rowan Bamford, who provided us with a detailed insight into the inner-workings of the award-winning team. Contact: Rowan Bamford Company: Liberty Global Transaction Solutions Website: www.libertygts.com Liberty GTS : A Global Leader in M&A Insurance iberty Global Transaction Solutions (GTS) is a leader in Mergers and Acquisitions Insurance. The team’s experienced underwriters average nearly a decade of experience each, are fluent in a wide array of languages and the majority were practicing lawyers or accountants prior to joining their group. With more than 50 specialists, Liberty GTS has helped facilitate over 500 M&A deals a year on average - successfully insuring thousands of transactions since their inception. Liberty GTS offers specialized products and services to help facilitate M&A transactions for buyers and sellers, including Representations & Warranties (R&W)/Warranty & Indemnity (W&I) Insurance, Tax Liability Insurance and one-off policies created for individual contingent risks. Going into further detail about the team Rowan begins by informing us of the areas the Liberty GTS team specializes in. “R&W/W&I Insurance can be used in many situations to help facilitate a M&A transaction, including: to enable parties to release or utilize their sale proceeds, to break a deal deadlock, to bridge a gap in expectations between parties on risk allocation, to allow the parties to ‘get comfortable’ with their negotiated position, and to satisfy lenders. Tax Liability Insurance shifts the responsibility for any tax contingencies from the insured to the insurer—minimizing financial risk and exposures and reducing the friction between buyers and sellers. Contingent Risk Insurance offers coverage for a broad range of contingent risks for which neither party to the transaction L “The key to our growth is our unique process. We operate under one global P&L. This allows us to customize our teams based upon their local, regional and sectoral expertise, not solely on physical location of the underwriter— ensuring our skill set matches the DNA of every deal.” will accept financial responsibility. Every Contingent Risk Insurance policy is bespoke to the specific facts of the transaction.” Recently, the Liberty GTS team found success in Acquisition Intl.’s Global Excellence Awards 2019 where they were righteously awarded the accolade Most Outstanding M&A and Tax Insurance Products Group – 2019. When discussing the success which the team has had since their inception, Rowan is keen to highlight the qualities he believes are a core reason behind their remarkable accomplishments. The key to our growth is our unique process. We operate under one global P&L. This allows us to customize our teams based upon their local, regional and sectoral expertise, not solely on physical location of the underwriter—ensuring our skill set matches the DNA of every deal. It doesn’t matter if the client is in London or Shanghai, we’ll select a team of GTS experts who are most suited for that specific deal. The tight timescales involved on a merger or acquisition require an incredibly focused approach. From claims to underwriting, GTS empowers employees at every level to make timely and autonomous decisions so that our clients are never delayed. There are enough surprises in the M&A world, delays in finding an insurance solution shouldn’t be one of them.” Bringing the interview to a close, Rowan signs off highlighting the role the team plays in the overall success of Liberty GTS. “Overall, here at Liberty GTS we are very proud to have won this award. We believe this success is reflective of our reputation for excellence of execution. With one of the largest and most experienced global M&A teams in the market, we can offer clients the quickest and most innovative solutions to cover their transactional risk.”