Genworth launches IPO for mortgage insurance subsidiary

Nearly five months after it was first announced, Henrico County-based Fortune 500 insurer Genworth Financial Inc. on Monday launched an initial public offering for its private mortgage insurance subsidiary, Raleigh, North Carolina-based Enact Holdings Inc.

Genworth Holdings Inc. (GHI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Genworth Financial, is offering 13.31 million shares of common stock in Enact at between $19 to $20 per share. Enact is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ACT.”

GHI expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.99 million shares of Enact’s common stock at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discount.

Investment funds managed by Coral Gables, Florida-based Bayview Asset Management LLC have agreed to purchase shares of Enact stock in a concurrent private sale at the IPO price per share, minus the underwriting discount. Bayview has agreed to purchase 14.66 million shares if the IPO price is less than or equal to $22 per share, or 4 million shares if the IPO price is above $22 per share but less than or equal to $24. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are serving as lead book-running managers for the proposed offering.

After initially filing a proposed IPO for the subsidiary with the SEC in April, then delaying the process in May, Genworth amended its SEC filing regarding the Enact IPO on Monday.

In April, Genworth formally terminated its long-delayed $2.7 billion acquisition by China-based Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. The company had first mentioned in January the possible IPO of its mortgage insurance business, describing it as a contingency plan if the Oceanwide acquisition fell through.

Genworth reported $178 million in 2020 net income. The company has about 5,000 employees.