Freedom Broker: insurer Bamboo Insurance plans a $665 mln IPO

Insurance underwriter Bamboo Insurance Services planned to price its IPO on the evening of September 22 and start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on September 23 under the ticker BMB. However, the company postponed the initial public offering due to market conditions, reported Bloomberg.

What Bamboo Insurance does

Founded in 2018, Bamboo operates in the U.S. home insurance market as a managing general underwriter. The company independently analyzes risks, sets insurance terms, issues policies, and participates in claims settlement. At the same time, insurance partners issue the policies and assume the primary risk of paying claims.

This model requires less proprietary capital than a traditional insurance company. Bamboo generates revenue mainly in the form of commissions from insurance partners and fees paid by clients. At the same time, the business depends on maintaining relationships with companies that provide insurance capacity.

Bamboo uses artificial intelligence, automation, and proprietary data sets to assess real estate properties and select risks. The company began operations in California, where the insurance market has faced rising losses from wildfires, and in September 2025 it entered Texas.

As of the end of 2025, Bamboo held about 4% of California’s homeowners insurance market. Managed premiums over the year rose 58% to $766 mln. By mid-2026, this figure approached $900 mln.

The company planned to raise up to $700 mln

Bamboo was going to offer 35 mln Class A shares at $18 to $20 per share. At the midpoint of the range ($19), the deal size would have been $665 mln and the market capitalization about $2.97 bln. If priced at the top of the range, the company could have been valued at about $3.24 bln on a fully diluted basis and raise up to $700 mln.

A key feature of the deal was that all shares were offered by existing shareholders. Bamboo would not have received any proceeds from the IPO: all proceeds from the sale of shares were intended for the selling shareholders.

Freedom Broker analysts note that this is the second IPO postponement in just a few days: shortly before Bamboo, Holtec Nuclear also delayed its offering, citing market conditions.

The lead underwriters were J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, Evercore ISI, and Wells Fargo Securities. The syndicate also included Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Piper Sandler.

Revenue rose, profit declined

In the first half of 2026, Bamboo’s revenue increased 40% year over year, from $124 mln to $173 mln. Adjusted EBITDA rose 82% to $77 mln, and the corresponding margin reached 45%.

At the same time, net income fell from $24 mln to $14 mln, and net margin from 19% to 8%. Managed premiums over the same period increased 34%. For the 12 months ended June 30, the company’s revenue was about $321 mln.

In 2025, CVC Capital Partners acquired a controlling stake in Bamboo from insurance holding company White Mountains Insurance Group. The deal at the time valued the insurer at $1.75 bln. In August 2026, for the fourth year in a row, Bamboo made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., ranking 348th.

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