Arthur J Gallagher has closed its $8.5bn public offering that will be used to part-fund the AssuredPartners acquisition, while rating agencies have responded to the deal by noting it will improve Gallagher’s position.
M&A
Hub International Limited has acquired the assets of Otter Insurance Agency, an independent insurance agency based in Washington state.
Aon-owned NFP has acquired Midland, Texas-based benefits and P&C broker Capstone Strategies.
Specialist Risk Group (SRG) has continued the build-out of its retail arm with the acquisition of insurance broker, R3.
Inszone Insurance Services has acquired Commercial Insurance of Texas Agency Services, expanding its footprint in Texas and bolstering its capabilities in the automotive, heavy truck aftermarket and equipment dealer insurance sectors.
Specialty MGA Optio has continued its European expansion after securing regulatory approval for its strategic investment in Italian MGA Heca S.r.l.
Asset management partnerships or sales will remain on the agenda for European insurers in 2025 due to the wave of consolidation among the region’s asset managers and a pressure for insurers to rationalise their business models and lift capital returns.
Analysts at Wells Fargo and KBW raised EPS estimates and target share prices for Arthur J Gallagher following news of its $13.45bn move to acquire AssuredPartners, highlighting the relatively low price for the deal and the potential integration and revenue synergies from the combination.
Bridge Specialty Group, the wholesale broking division of Brown & Brown, has acquired the assets of Madison, Wisconsin-based specialty wholesale environmental insurance brokerage platform American Risk Management Resources Network.
Hub International Limited has acquired the assets of Fairfield County Bank Insurance Services, an independent insurance agency based in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Arthur J Gallagher’s deal to buy AssuredPartners for gross consideration of $13.45bn was reached after just six weeks of bilateral discussions and due diligence, with no bidding process or banks involved, according to the buyer’s chairman and CEO Pat Gallagher.
Bancassurance may soon see a resurgence in Europe thanks to an obscure accounting quirk due to take effect in January 2025 which is expected to fuel deal-making between banks and insurers, according to market sources.
AssuredPartners’ relationship with private equity firm GTCR is among the “longest and most successful” in the PE firm’s history, according to GTCR managing director David Donnini, who credited the intermediary’s discernment in its pursuit of M&A.
Arthur J Gallagher chairman and CEO Pat Gallagher has said the additional tools his firm can provide AssuredPartners producers will help drive organic growth and new business opportunities as he also highlighted the minimal overlap between the two brokers’ tuck-in M&A pipeline.
Arthur J Gallagher has announced an underwritten public offering of $8.5bn of its common stock to fund a portion of its $13.45bn acquisition of AssuredPartners, with the underwriters granted an option to buy an additional $1.28bn of shares.
