Nicholas Berry

Partner Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
London
United Kingdom
+44 (20) 74442127
London
United Kingdom
+44 (20) 74442127
Nicholas Berry

Nicholas Berry

Biography

Nicholas Berry is a corporate lawyer based in London.

His practice has a particular focus on the insurance sector and he has over 18 years of experience of advising across a range of transactional and regulatory matters, including acting for private equity sponsors, start-ups, domestic and international insurers and reinsurers, investment banks and other industry investors and participants (including Lloyd's market participants) in relation to M&A, fundraisings, buy-outs, start-ups and product launches and structured insurance and reinsurance arrangements.

He is ranked as a leading partner for Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory by Legal 500, 2025.  He is described in Legal 500 as "one of the best, if not the best corporate lawyer I have worked with. Knowledgeable both in terms of legal knowledge and sector, commercial and manages a great and reliable team. I would work with him every time if I could…"

Chambers UK 2024 has ranked him in its non-contentious insurance category, with a client stating "He's a superb lawyer with an easy ability to balance corporate and insurance questions."

Business Today News ranked Nicholas as one of the top 10 non-contentious insurance lawyers shaping the UK's industry in 2023.

Nicholas was ranked as a "Leading Individual" for TMT: Fintech by Legal 500, 2024.  He devised and co-ordinates our Insurathon innovation events, where InsurTech start-ups pitch for a prize fund of up to £50,000. These events have been held annually since 2017 and have enabled Norton Rose Fulbright to provide over £250,000 of support to UK InsurTech companies.

Professional experience

Representative experience

Representative experience

Advising:

M&A and Private Equity

  • Dale Underwriting Partners operating through syndicate 1729 on its strategic partnership and investment from global private equity firm CVC
  • The founding sellers of UK fraud data firm Synectics Solutions on its investment from Synova Capital
  • Markerstudy Group, a Pollen Street backed company, on its acquisition of insurance broker Hughes Insurance
  • Advising Aquiline on its acquisition of a controlling stake in Ripe Insurance, a UK based MGA with a focus on specialist and small business insurance
  • Aquiline and Lloyd's of London insurer ERS - on a $350m fundraise to enable ERS to expand its strategy to underwrite specialty (re)insurance business
  • Aquiline - on its investment in and subsequent exit from wholesale broker Beach & Associates
  • Aquiline - on the acquisition of ERS, a Lloyd's of London syndicate writing speciality motor insurance
  • A global insurer - on the sale of its South African business
  • A global insurer - on the acquisition of a telematics and connected car business with international operations
  • A global insurer - on its minority investment in a pay-as-you-go motor insurer
  • A global insurer - on its strategic acquisition of a digital health and wellbeing platform as part of its newly launched healthcare business
  • Primary Group - on the sale of the commercial lines MGA UK General to JC Flowers
  • Primary Group backed MGA Now Health International - on its acquisition of Best Doctor's Inc private medical insurance business
  • AXA - in relation to its £2.75bn disposal to Resolution Ltd of certain of its UK life businesses

ILS / ART

  • A global bank a on a multi-year stop-loss transaction with a global reinsurer which took the form of an innovative hybrid transaction using a transformer vehicle.
  • A global bank on the provision of multi- year collateralised reinsurance to a leading specialist run-off insurer via a cell structure and a multiyear stop- loss transaction
  • An investor - on a number of bespoke ILS investments in relation to wildfire risk
  • Stable Price - on its launch in Bermuda and establishment of a collateralized insurer class of company and related risk protection arrangements to provide protection to Stable's clients
  • An insurer client - on two separate parametric programs relating to balance sheet de-risking
  • MyLotto24 - on the creation and renewal of its innovative ILS Hoplon coverage (Hoplon I, II & III)
  • A Lloyd's members' agent - on the use of funding structure using the new UK ILS regime
  • MGA Now Health International - on its global capacity arrangements and reinsurance arrangements with RGA
  • A lead investor - in relation to the issue of the Munich Re reinsurance sidecar Eden Re catbonds, covering US weather and earthquake risk
  • Lottoland - on its pay-out loss coverage through collateralised reinsurance using a Gibraltar cell company to transform the risk to investors in the first transaction of its kind in Gibraltar

InsurTech

  • Tech-enabled commercial motor insurer Zego - in its $150m Series C valuing the business at $1.1bn, making Zego the UK's first InsurTech "Unicorn"
  • Nexus Mutual, a peer-to-peer risk coverage defi application - on the ethereum blockchain, which is one the first businesses to capitalize a risk pool through cryptocurrency and now has capital assets reported to be in excess of $200m, on its platform launch and token sale (ICO)
  • Arch - on the creation of a bespoke insurance product and a new consortium dedicated to underwriting digital asset risks with limits of up to $150m, BlueVault is the first consortium of its kind to cover digital assets held in secure vaults
  • Three global insurers and a global bank - on investments into and strategic partnerships with InsurTechs
  • NRF Insurathon winners Flock Cover, Pluto, Riskbook (now Supercede) and Anansi - on various matters
  • MS Amlin - in relation to Insurwave, one of the highest profile blockchain platforms in the marine insurance sector involving Maersk, EY, Willis Towers Watson, XL Catlin, MS Amlin and Microsoft
  • AIG and Standard Chartered - on the insurance regulatory aspects relating to the use of blockchain in their trade finance platform PoC

 

Rankings and recognitions

Rankings and recognitions

Leading partner for Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory by Legal 500, 2025 Ranked Individual, Chambers and Partners, 2024

Leading Individual, FinTech, The Legal 500, 2024

Admissions

Admissions

  • Solicitor, qualified in England & Wales 2008

Speaking engagements

Speaking engagements

  • Host, Insurathon, London, since 2017.
  • Crypto Insurance Challenge: How Can I Insure What I Don't Understand?, PLUS D&O Symposium, New York, February 6, 2019.
  • Co-host, Navigating the InsurTech Revolution, Bermuda, September 20, 2018.
  • Artificial Intelligence, The Liability Risks at the Liability Underwriters Group Conference, September 12, 2018.
  • The Insurance of Crypto Assets and Businesses, Lloyd's Market Talk to Lloyd's Syndicates, August 16, 2018.
  • Co-host, Smart Shipping and InsurTech - Reshaping Marine Insurance event co-hosted by Norton Rose Fulbright, MS Amlin and InsTech London, June 13, 2018.
  • The Future of smart contracts in insurance, the FCA's InsurTech conference, March 28-29, 2017.

 

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