Bermuda-based captive management experts the Quest Group of Companies (including Quest Management Services Ltd., Quest (SAC) Ltd. and Sentry Intermediaries Ltd.) has been taken over by London AIM-listed insurance service provider Randall & Quilter (R&Q) Investment Holdings plc. in a deal worth up to $6.9 million.

R&Q, a run-off acquisition and management firm, continued its strategy of acquiring service companies with the deal for the Island's second largest independent Bermudian management company, which provides accounting and management services to the captive non-life insurance sector and was registered as a Class 3 reinsurer in 2007.

The deal will be funded through R&Q's existing cash pool and will include a further payment related to the Quest group of companies' performance over the next 12 months.

According to the AIM-traded company, the deal is a "great opportunity to diversify its service provision geographically and functionally, and provides excellent opportunities for growth".

The target companies generated pre-tax profit of $900,000 on revenues of $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2007.

Jerry McArthur, CEO of R&Q's unit US and Bermuda, said: "This is a decisive step forward for us into the Bermudian insurance market. The acquisition now provides a service platform in each of the key insurance markets of Bermuda, the US and the UK, which will also enable Randall & Quilter to source run-off and debt acquisition opportunities and provide risk capital solutions to clients who are seeking to restructure their balance sheets across one or more of these markets."