Pinion has received regulatory approval to acquire Catlin Specialty Insurance Co, giving the new company a route to begin building its American underwriting business.

Pinion United States Holdings LLC, the American subsidiary of Pinion Holdings Ltd, said the Oklahoma Department of Insurance had approved its Form A change-in-control application for the acquisition of Catlin Specialty, an American eligible excess and surplus lines insurer.

The approval advances Bermudian-incorporated insurer’s plan to provide long-term insurance capacity to managing general agents in the US specialty market. It said underwriting and due diligence were already under way with a pipeline of prospective MGA partners.

Gary Maier, Pinion’s US chief executive, said: “This is an important step in establishing Pinion in the US market.

“We are building a business designed specifically for the modern MGA ecosystem, combining experienced underwriting leadership, responsive long-term capacity, and technology that enables us to work with our partners in a fundamentally different way.”

Pinion launched in February with a commitment of up to $180 million from Barings, the global asset manager. At that time, it said it intended to obtain nationwide US excess and surplus lines licences by acquiring an existing insurer.

The company is incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in London. It was founded by Neil McConachie, the group CEO, Philip Vandoninck, group chief underwriting officer, and Laura Baird, group chief technology officer.

Its platform is built on technology developed by Pinion Risk Consulting, a data and analytics business founded by Ms Baird. Pinion said the system would allow underwriting, exposure and claims data to flow directly between its MGA partners, capital providers and reinsurance partners.

The company said that visibility would support underwriting decisions and give MGAs a clearer view of portfolio performance.

Kyle Selvig, Pinion’s US chief underwriting officer, said the focus had now shifted to turning its prospective partnerships into written business.

“We are ready to partner with high-quality MGAs that bring specialist underwriting expertise, strong distribution and a clear alignment of interests with their capacity providers,” he said. “We have built a strong pipeline of opportunities; we now have the team and capabilities lined up to begin converting that pipeline into long-term underwriting partnerships.”

Pinion had previously said it was seeking licences in the US, United Kingdom and European Union, as well as an AM Best rating. It aims to offer capacity across the American, British and European specialty insurance markets.