Vantage Group Holdings Ltd has acquired an Illinois domiciled domestic surplus lines insurance company licensed in 47 states.

The Bermudian-based speciality re/insurance group said the acquired company - Crystal Ridge Specialty Insurance Company Inc - has been renamed Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company, and has secured an A- (Excellent) AM Best Rating, extending the current A- rating held by Vantage.

Through the second quarter of this year, Vantage said senior-level underwriting hires were announced in financial lines, healthcare, excess casualty and political risk & credit.

The company said it initially launched its US insurance business in May by entering into a strategic partnership with a leading property and casualty insurance carrier operating across the US.

Vantage said that partnership allowed the experienced underwriting teams at the company to issue policies in selected lines of business with full access and authority to highly rated paper in all 50 states.

Greg Hendrick, chief executive officer of Vantage, said: “This acquisition is a critical step in developing our US business operations, enabling our teams to underwrite through our own subsidiary. We are very pleased to have our current A- (Excellent) AM Best rating extended to this new Vantage entity.

“Partnering with a nationally recognised industry leader earlier this year enabled Vantage to immediately enter the US marketplace as we built our US platform.

“This acquisition, coupled with our strategic partner relationship, positions Vantage to provide US insurance protection where it is needed. These transactions continue our planned growth trajectory and reflect our commitment to underwriting business where existing capacity is shrinking, leveraging our opportunity in the speciality insurance marketplace.”

Vantage said it began writing reinsurance risk on January 1 through its Bermuda Class 4 company, Vantage Risk Ltd.

Initially writing property catastrophe and speciality reinsurance products, Vantage Risk has expanded its offering to include financial lines, healthcare and excess casualty insurance products.

The company said this comes on top of launching AdVantage Retro I Ltd, a collateralised reinsurer established to allow investors to partner with Vantage Risk to access selected reinsurance risks, and the sponsoring of Vantage Risk’s first catastrophe bond, issued by Bermuda special purpose insurer Vista Re Ltd.