Swiss-based insurer Allied World says it will gain meaningful scale in Asia with the acquisition of Royal & Sun Alliance’s Hong Kong and Singapore operations for $US215 million ($230.74 million).

The businesses include a niche group of specialty lines such as casualty, construction and engineering and marine. They recorded gross written premium of about $US250 million ($268.31 million) last year.

Royal & Sun Alliance will use the sale proceeds to increase its capital.

Allied World recently moved into Australia, opening a branch in Sydney, to focus on niche areas such as healthcare liability, professional liability, specialty casualty, trade credit and political risk.