By Press Release
InsuranceNewsNet July 23, 2019
There were 328
announced insurance agency mergers and acquisitions during the first half of
2019, according to OPTIS Partners’ M&A database.
It was the
second-highest six-month total, trailing only the first half of 2017 when 333
transactions were reported. There were 300 deals in the first half of 2018 and
a record 665 transactions closed in the past 12 months, OPTIS said.
The data covers
U.S. and Canadian agencies selling primarily property-and-casualty insurance,
agencies selling both P&C and employee benefits, and those selling only
employee benefits.
“The aggressiveness
of buyers continues to push pricing and transaction counts to new highs,” said
Timothy J. Cunningham, managing partner of OPTIS Partners, an investment
banking and financial consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry.
Activity
By Buyer Type
The report breaks
down buyers into four groups: private equity-backed/hybrid brokers, privately
held brokers, publicly held brokers, and all others.
Out of 67
PE-backed/hybrid buyers active since 2008, 28 made acquisitions in the first
half of 2019, the highest total of any six-month period other than the first
half of last year, when 30 completed one or more acquisitions. This buyer group
accounted for nearly two-thirds of all announced transactions in the past 12
months.
Acrisure led all
buyers with 39 transactions in the first half, but that’s their lowest
six-month total since 2016. Other top buyers were Hub International (26 deals),
Patriot Growth (21), Assured Partners (21), Broadstreet Partners (18) and
Gallagher (16).
Activity
By Seller Type
Sellers for the
first half of the year by type of agency were P&C-only agencies (169
announced transactions), employee benefits agencies (82 sales),
P&C/benefits brokers 46 deals), and all others (31 transactions).
Twenty-seven out of
the 328 reported deals took place in Canada, representing over 8% of the total,
the highest count and percentage of Canadian-based sellers ever for the first
six months of a year. Hub International completed nine of the 27 deals while 13
other firms completed the remaining 18 transactions.
Not all transactions
are announced, so the actual number of agency sales undoubtedly exceeded number
reported, according to Daniel P. Menzer of OPTIS Partners.
“But our data
collection process is consistent from period to period and includes a variety
of sources. We’re confident the deal activity measured over time reflects of
the overall M&A marketplace,” he said.
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