Specialty Insurer Orion180 Slumps 4.2% After $240 Million IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Orion180 Insurance Group Inc. fell 4.2% in its trading debut after the company raised $240 million from an upsized initial public offering.

The specialty homeowners insurance company opened at $11.50 per share on Friday, above its IPO price of $12. Orion180 sold 20 million Class A shares after marketing them at $15 to $17 each.

The trading gives Melbourne, Florida-based company a market value of about $1.14 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in its filings.

Founded in 2018, Orion180 operates as an insurer and as a managing general agent for other carriers, providing both excess and surplus and state-regulated lines of home insurance, as well as private flood insurance, through a network of more than 14,000 independent agents.

Excess and surplus lines of insurance, which are generally not subject to regulations on premium rates or policy language, represent a small but fast-growing subset of the $187 billion US homeowners insurance market, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence cited in Orion180's filings. E&S insurance covers properties that traditional insurers perceive as too exposed to the risk of severe weather or other catastrophes.

Orion180 had net income of $13.2 million on revenue of $80.1 million for the first six months of 2026, compared with a net loss of $3 million on revenue of $50.4 million a year earlier. With a presence in 14 states, the company generated $601 million of premiums written in-house or placed with third-party carriers in the 12 months ended June 30.

Kenneth Gregg, Orion180's founder, controls the company through his holdings of Class B shares, the filings show.

Earlier this month, the company paid a $55 million dividend to shareholders including Gregg, according to the filings. The funds raised in the IPO may be used to repay a new credit facility that substantially funded both the September dividend and a separate $151 million payout in May.

Orion180's IPO comes ahead of next week's expected listing of another home insurance company, Bamboo Insurance Services Inc., whose existing shareholders including private equity firm CVC Capital Partners are seeking to sell as much as $700 million of shares.