Buyer’s Guide: The 6 States of Acquiring an Agency

Published in IA Magazine on November 1, 2017

In the last two years, one in 10 agencies have been involved in some sort of merger or acquisition activity, according to the most recent Future One Agency Universe Study. If the rate of M&As continues at its current pace, that number is likely to increase—and may even include your agency.

September 2017 – M&A Summary

Insurance agency Merger & Acquisition (“M&A”) transactions continued the highly active pace during the 3rd quarter with a total of 132 reported sales and was the third highest quarterly total, behind only Q1- and Q2-2017.

June 2017 – M&A Report

Insurance agency Merger & Acquisition (“M&A”) activity exploded during the 1st Quarter (“Q1”) of 2017 with 185 reported transactions in the US and Canada and continued the stampede during the 2nd quarter with 135 transactions. The Q1-2017 activity was impacted, in part, from the formation of Alera Group, a new private-equity (“PE”) backed firm that closed 24 separate deals on January 1, 2017, but it was still a record-setting pace without the Alera transactions.

March 2017 – M&A Report

Insurance agency Merger & Acquisition (“M&A”) activity exploded during the 1st Quarter (“Q1”) of 2017 with 178 reported transactions in the US and Canada, up from 115 reported transactions in Q1-2016. The growth was impacted, in part, from the formation of Alera Group, a new private-equity backed firm that closed 24 separate deals on January 1, 2017. Notwithstanding this unique transaction, the number of Q1 transactions would still have out-paced any previous quarterly period.

December 2016 – M&A Report

M&A Activity during 2016 fell just short of the 2015 count, with reported transactions in the US and Canada down slightly from 456 in 2015 to 449 in 2016, but still the second highest level of M&A activity on record.

September 2016 – M&A Report

M&A Activity continues to expand through the 3rd Quarter, 2016, with reported transactions in the US and Canada up from 338 in 2015 to 344 in 2016, with the Trailing 12-Month (“TTM”) totals now at 461 transactions.

Mid-Year 2016 – M&A Statistics

While brokers’ merger and acquisition (M&A) activity fell short of setting any records during the first half of 2016, buyers and sellers continued to feed their hearty appetites for deals and push up the M&A activity trend line. First-half 2016 activity dropped nominally to 232 announced deals from 233 during the same period last year, yet the first two quarters this year rank as the second-most active six-month period since OPTIS began tracking M&A transactions in 2008.

A Due Diligence Review

Published in The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly on April 15, 2016

A thorough due diligence review is an extensive investigation of the seller’s business that a buyer undertakes prior to the execution of the purchase transaction.

FitchRatings – US Insurance Broker Dashboard

Published in Fitch Ratings in March 2016

The pace of acquisitions increased following a period of more modest activity due to an improving global economy with available funding in a low interest rate environment.

2015 M&A Activity – Another Record Year

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity again reached record levels in 2015 and provided further evidence of
a steady, entrenched shift in buyer dynamics. PE-backed buyers were responsible for virtually all of the
year-over-year growth, while P&C agencies dominated the seller category.

2015 M&A Results – Another Record Year

Published in Business Insurance on Feb 1, 2016

Mergers and acquisitions of insurance agents and brokerages in the United States and Canada set fresh records in 2015 in deals pushed by strong valuations and ongoing private equity interest.

2014 Agency M&A Statistics

The previous record of reported mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) from 2012 was surpassed in 2014 as nearly every sector in the marketplace saw increases.

Business Planning

Published in Professional Insurance Agents Magazine (New England edition) in August 2014

To many agency principals whose primary focus is taking care of existing customers, prospecting and engaging new customers, the idea of business planning often is synonymous with getting a root canal from the dentist.

2013 Mergers & Acquisitions – A Year in Transition

From the historic high level of M&A activity in 2012, 2013 marked a return to normal levels as buyers assimilated all their 2012 deals and they began to refill the pipeline of potential target sellers. Sellers, conversely, dealt with lower net sales consideration due to higher capital gains tax rates effective January 1, 2013.