DARAG Group

DARAG acquires discontinued books of insurance and reinsurance business across the European Economic Area and the UK. These are portfolios where the original carrier wants full legal finality on legacy liabilities such as motor, general liability, property, marine, and credit/surety exposures. The firm typically structures transactions as loss-portfolio transfers or outright acquisitions of legal entities.

DARAG is backed by private equity investors. Keyhaven Capital Partners was an early shareholder, and the firm later brought in Aleph Capital Partners and Crestview Partners as major equity investors. Founders Hugues Lepic of Aleph and Richard DeMartini of Crestview both serve on the DARAG board, providing strategic oversight alongside the investment.

The 2024 divestiture to RiverStone Group was a strategic refocusing. DARAG concluded that competing for US and Bermuda legacy deals required a scale and management bandwidth that diluted its core European thesis. The sale allowed the firm to redeploy capital exclusively into European run-off opportunities, where its German and Malta regulated carriers create a structural home-field advantage.

Transaction decisions are led by Group CEO and founder Tom Booth, working with a specialized M&A and actuarial team that evaluates legacy portfolios. The board, which includes representatives from Aleph Capital and Crestview, approves material acquisitions. The firm's regulated insurance entities in Germany and Malta maintain their own governance and reserving processes under Solvency II.

DARAG operates as both. It is a regulated insurance group with licensed carriers, which distinguishes it from most private equity-backed run-off vehicles. The firm doesn't just advise on or manage run-off — it becomes the legal insurer for the acquired liabilities, holding capital against its own reserves and managing the investment of those float assets internally.