This Week’s Top Three – Swiss family office backs insurance; art publication; biotech

Family Capital’s This Week’s Top Three. The weekly feature that looks at the three most compelling deals done by family/principal investment groups over the last week.

Mysterious Swiss-based family office ploughs serious money into an insurance business

A Zug-based family office has, according to sources, invested in a new Bermuda based reinsurance company called Rosh Re, with links to Rosh Capital Management, a New York City-based insurance business. 

According to media reports from Bermuda, the family office backing the group is WH Holding AG, which, say the reports, is investing $600 million into the reinsurance company. WH Holdings, say the reports, is linked to “industrial investor Ajay Kumar”. 

However, Family Capital wasn’t able to confirm who owns WH Holdings, and, although Ajay Kumar might be linked to the family office, there is some unproven evidence that it’s owned by the von Thurn und Taxis family, an old aristocratic German dynasty and one of the country’s wealthiest. Although this might be a completely different family office associated with the Rosh deal. 

Family office buys minority stake in art publication

Recently launched family office Virtru Investment Partners has bought a minority stake in New York City-based Baer Faxt. 

Glenn Fuhrman’s family office, Virtru Investment Partners, and LionTree Partners acquired a minority stake in Baer Faxt, a weekly art industry newsletter. Virtru along with co-investor LionTree paid an undisclosed sum for the stake. 

Fuhrman helped set up Michael Dell’s family office MSD Capital, but left to set up Virtru earlier this year. According to Bloomberg, he has been a subscriber to the newsletter for more than 15 years. 

Biotech investment by Swiss family office

GISEV Family Office, a Lugano-based family office for members of the Giuliani family, who control an eponymous Italian-based pharmaceutical company, has invested in Solarea Bio. 

The Boston-based biotech group specializes in the research and development of therapeutics that are derived from natural sources to treat chronic inflammation. 

GISEV was one of four investors backing the group with $11.2 million in a Series A round. 

It marks a continuation of GISEV’s biotech investments – early this year the family office helped fund US-based anti-ageing health group, Elysium Health.