Waterloo, Ontario-based Definity priced its IPO at C$22.00 per share, the top end of the marketing range. The shares opened at C$28.00, rose to the day's high of C$30.00 and were trading at C$27.995 at 15:15 EST.
Definity, previously known as Economical Mutual Insurance Co, is the parent company of Economical Insurance, Family Insurance Solutions Inc, Petline Insurance Company and Sonnet Insurance Co.
It is the seventh-largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada, with a 4.6% market share and one million policies in force, according to its IPO prospectus.
The company offers auto, property, liability and pet insurance as well as fleet, individually rated commercial auto, property and speciality insurance, said the prospectus.
Definity also aims to expand its digital direct insurance outreach with its Sonnet platform, which was launched in 2016.
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Swiss Re Investments Holding Co Ltd agreed to purchase 20,691,179 and 11,450,000 common shares at the IPO price, valued at C$707 million, the company said in a statement.
The debut marks Canada's biggest IPO this year and the largest since Manulife Financial Corp, according to data from Refinitiv. Thursday's IPO also marks the first Canadian insurance-related IPO since 2019, according to Refinitiv.
Definity added C$400 million in underwriting income and over C$225 million in net income between 2018 and 2020, the prospectus said.
Lead underwriters for the offering included BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and Barclays.
($1 = 1.2636 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Maiya Keidan; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler)
