On November 19th, Penserra acted as a co-manager in a $1.2 billion Allstate Corp. bond transaction to help fund the insurer’s $4 billion acquisition of National General Holdings Corp., Allstate’s largest takeover ever.
In the biggest corporate deal yet exclusively managed by diverse banks, Allstate used a syndicate of minority, women and veteran-owned firms for the debt offering. Along with Penserra, the insurer also enlisted Academy Securities, Loop Capital Markets, Ramirez & Co., Siebert Williams Shank, Amerivet Securities, Cabrera Capital Markets, C.L. King, and R. Seelaus. The transaction marks the first of substantial size that diverse underwriters are leading without any bulge-bracket banks involved.
“Congratulations to Allstate and to all of the MWVBEs involved,” said John Pascente, head of capital markets at Penserra. “We are proud to participate in this historic transaction and pleased that Allstate had the commitment and confidence in this syndicate to get it done.”