Carl Hotton

CARL HOTTON has a broad corporate practice, with extensive experience advising on a wide range of transactions, particularly in the insurance and financial services sectors.

He has significant experience advising clients across the insurance sector, including in the non-life, life, and Lloyd’s markets. His work includes advising insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, and financial sponsors on domestic and cross-border M&A, insurance portfolio transfers, reinsurance transactions, strategic investments, and JVs, group reorganisations, and related insurance regulatory matters. He also advises banks, asset managers, fintech and insurtech companies, and other players in the financial services markets on a wide range of corporate transactions.

Carl is recognized in Chambers UK 2026 as “Up and Coming” for Insurance: Non-Contentious, where he is praised by clients as “a very commercially astute corporate insurance lawyer who helps us navigate large, complex insurance and reinsurance transactions effectively and efficiently.” He is also recommended in Legal 500 UK 2026 for Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory where he is described as “outstanding, very personable, very client-focused and highly capable.”

He brings valuable international and industry experience, having spent time on secondment in Shanghai at his previous firm, working on cross-border M&A involving Chinese companies, as well as at a global insurance broker earlier in his career.

Recent examples of Carl’s work include advising:

• Willis Towers Watson on its acquisition of Cushon, a technology enabled workplace savings and pension business, from NatWest Group.
• Liberty Mutual on its cross-border merger of Liberty Mutual Surety Europe into Liberty Specialty Markets Europe.
• AIG on several matters including (i) its strategic partnership with McGill and partners to deploy AI-driven underwriting across US$1.6 billion GWP portfolio, (ii) the sale of its interest in Ascot to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for total consideration in excess of US$1.1 billion, (iii) its Brexit restructuring and transfers of its UK and European business, and (iv) an acquisition by AIG Life of Ellipse from Munich Re.
• Centerbridge Partners on its acquisition of Canopius, a top-five Lloyd’s business, for US$950 million from Sompo.
• The Group Trustee of the National Grid Electricity Group of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme (ESPS) on a £1.7 billion buy-in with Aviva including transitioning the Group’s existing longevity swap with Zurich Assurance Ltd to Aviva.
• A U.S. based asset management company on a reinsurance sidecar investment structured through a Bermuda special purpose insurer and quota share reinsurance agreement.
• Lloyd’s of London on its market wide Brexit restructuring and the transfer of all non-life Lloyd’s business to a new European entity and the related reinsurance arrangements.
• The Equitable Life on its complex restructuring and sale to Utmost Life and Pensions via a scheme of arrangement and Part VII transfer transferring close to £6.2 billion of policyholder assets.
• Canopius on several transactions including (i) its acquisition of AmTrust’s Lloyd’s business and related reinsurance to close off existing syndicate liabilities, (ii) the strategic inward investment by Samsung into Canopius, becoming a significant minority investor, and (iii) raising in excess of US$450 million of new equity in a Lloyd’s context.
• Swiss Re on several transactions including (i) its acquisition of the mature savings business from L&G for £650 million and (ii) its acquisition of the heritage life and pensions business Old Mutual wealth management company for £425 million.
• The Hartford on the sale of its UK run-off subsidiaries to Catalina, including related reinsurance arrangements.
• A global professional services firm on the transfer of £3.4 billion of longevity risk liabilities from its UK pension fund to reinsurance capital.
• J.P. Morgan on several transactions including its (i) acquisition of Nutmeg, the UK’s largest online wealth manager, (ii) acquisition of Global Shares, an equity management platform, and (iii) investment into a payments business.
• A global bank on its defence against an activist campaign coordinated by one of its largest shareholders calling for a break-up of the banking group.
• Compass Group plc on its acquisition of 4Service AS.

The above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.