By James Thaler

Aug 15 - (The Insurer) - Ambac Financial Group is in advanced discussions to acquire Armada, the accident and health managing general agent owned by SiriusPoint, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal would expand Ambac’s fast-growing distribution platform and deepen its push into fee-rich specialty programs. It is expected to progress once Ambac completes the sale of its legacy financial guarantee businesses to Oaktree Capital for $420 million.

That transaction, covering Ambac Assurance in the U.S. and Ambac UK, is under regulatory review and has a closing deadline extended to Dec. 31, 2025.

If finalized, the Armada acquisition would add a sizable supplemental health and workplace-benefits book to Ambac’s Cirrata distribution arm.

Ambac and SiriusPoint declined to comment.

The talks come as Ambac retools itself around specialty P&C after years as a financial guaranty company and pursues a pipeline of tuck-in acquisitions and lift-outs.

Last week, Ambac executives outlined fresh medium-term targets, including $80 million to $90 million of adjusted Ebitda by 2028.

They also signaled a “series of strategic initiatives” once the Oaktree deal closes, underscoring an ambition to use M&A and incubation to scale Cirrata and its UK counterpart, Beat Capital Partners.

Ambac has already bulked up its MGA footprint with the acquisition of a 60% stake in Beat Capital Partners last year. The London-based platform seeds and scales specialty MGAs across lines and geographies.

Separately, Ambac last week saw the resignation of Charles Sebaski, its head of investor relations, after more than three years in the role, according to sources. The departure comes amid a widened Q2 net loss to $20.8 million, a 13% decline in Everspan gross written premium and continued share-price pressure, and follows a series of senior exits at Ambac and its fronting unit Everspan.

In late July, The Insurer reported that Ambac CEO Claude LeBlanc has sounded out potential buyers for Everspan, but that no formal sale price is currently in place.

An Ambac spokesperson said at the time that it is not in discussions to sell Everspan.

In late July, The Insurer reported that Arcadian Risk Capital, in which SiriusPoint retained a 49% stake after deconsolidating the MGA last year entered, exclusive talks for Lee Equity Partners to acquire all or part of SiriusPoint’s interest. The Oppenheimer-advised process, following Arcadian’s rapid growth to $400 million-plus of GWP across GL, professional liability and property D&F, highlights SiriusPoint’s ongoing moves to rebalance its portfolio and monetize select distribution investments.