Business Moves
Marsh, Wortham Insurance
Global insurance broker Marsh is acquiring Houston-based Wortham Insurance. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018, were not disclosed.
Founded in 1915, Wortham has more than 530 colleagues based in its Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio offices. It provides property/casualty insurance, surety, personal lines and employee benefits advice and solutions with particular expertise in energy, power, construction and retail sectors in addition to managing several specialty programs.
Upon completion of the transaction, Marsh will expand its footprint in Texas to include the Austin and Fort Worth markets and will merge its existing operations in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans and Tulsa with Wortham.
The combined business will operate as Marsh Wortham with Richard M. Blades, who is currently chairman of Wortham, as its CEO. He will report to Martin South, president of Marsh’s U.S. and Canada division. Blades will also serve as chairman of Marsh’s Energy & Power Practice in the U.S.
Shoreline Financial Group, Satellite Agency Network Group
Shoreline Financial Group, a financial services group based in Clinton, Conn., has joined Satellite Agency Network Group Inc., a Hampton, N.H.-based alliance of independent insurance agencies in the Northeast.
Shoreline Financial Group is a life, home and auto insurance agency founded in 2001 that provides insurance and investments, and it will now be able to offer additional personal and commercial insurance products as a result of combining the two agencies.
The agency is owned by Chris Spaziano, who has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry.
Shoreline Financial Group previously acquired Abrens Insurance of Shelton, Conn. – a SAN member agency for more than ten years – when its owner, Michael Ferreira, retired.
Kemper, Infinity P&C
Chicago, Ill.-based insurer Kemper Corp. has closed on its $1.6 billion acquisition of Birmingham, Ala.-based nonstandard auto insurer Infinity Property and Casualty Corp.
The stock portion of the cash and stock deal announced in February was based on Kemper’s closing stock price of $75.65 on June 29, 2018. Kemper is funding the cash portion of the deal with a combination of cash-on-hand from the combined companies and other internal resources.
Infinity sells auto insurance in the specialty, nonstandard segment. It has approximately $1.4 billion in 2017 direct written premiums – 88 percent of which is nonstandard auto, and the rest is commercial vehicle and classic car business.
For 2017, it reported operating net income of $44 million, a combined ratio of 95.2. Slightly more than half (53 percent) of its business is in California, 31 percent in Florida, 12 percent in Texas and two percent in Arizona.
Infinity has 2,300 employees and 10,600 independent agents. One of its target markets is the Hispanic community, and many of its employees are bilingual.
Kemper companies offer insurance for home, auto, life, health and valuables and are represented by 20,000 agents and brokers. The insurer employs 5,550 associates, with 2,000 of them in property/casualty.
The combined company will have a diversified portfolio across auto, home, life and health insurance with approximately $2.2 billion in nonstandard auto insurance premiums, more agency relationships and greater efficiencies, according to the parties.
Related to the closing, Kemper announced the expansion of its board to 11 members with the election of Teresa A. Canida as a director of the combined company.
Canida, who has served as an Infinity director since 2009, is a portfolio manager at Cito Capital Group.
Kemper reported $120.9 million in net income for 2017 with catastrophe losses factored out. Cat losses and other loss adjustments wiped out $120.2 million of that total. Kemper’s combined ratio for 2017 was 105.6, on par with 2016.
The Hilb Group, BAR Insurance Brokerage
The Hilb Group LLC has added Needham, Mass.-based BAR Insurance Brokerage Inc. (BAR). The transaction became effective June 1, 2018.
BAR is an employee benefits firm that provides a range of group benefits products and services to its customers. The Hilb Group is a middle market insurance agency headquartered in Richmond, Va., and is a portfolio company of Boston-based private equity firm, Abry Partners.
As part of the transaction, BAR will join THG’s New England operations. BAR President Rick Raisman will work alongside THG’s team to grow the region’s benefits division.
Kaplansky Insurance, Kelleher & Mackey Insurance Agency
Kaplansky Insurance, a Needham, Mass.-based, independent and locally owned agency, has acquired Kelleher & Mackey Insurance Agency (K&M) in Quincy, Mass.
Following the acquisition, K&M will be merging into Kaplansky’s new Weymouth, Mass., location.
The addition of K&M marks the 29th acquisition for Kaplansky and further strengthens the agency’s presence in the Northeast. In the future, it plans to continue to pursue additional agency acquisitions, according to a company press release. Kaplansky Insurance operates 13 locations throughout Massachusetts.
Arthur J. Gallagher; Marchetti, Robertson & Brickell; H.R. Keller & Co.
Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Marchetti, Robertson & Brickell Insurance and Bonding Agency Inc., with offices in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and Kansas City, Missouri. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1953, Marchetti, Robertson & Brickell is a retail property/casualty broker and employee benefits consultant/broker serving clients throughout the United States. Marchetti, Robertson & Brickell focuses on the construction, bonding, transportation and forest product industries.
John Marchetti, Ray Robertson, John Raines, Brent Huber and their associates will continue to operate from their current locations under the direction of Bumpy Triche, head of Gallagher’s Mid-South Region retail property/casualty brokerage operations, and Robby Wite, head of Gallagher’s South Central Region employee benefits brokerage and consulting operations.
In a separate deal, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Buffalo, N.Y.-based H.R. Keller & Co. Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
H.R. Keller & Co. Inc.’s Eric Keller, Andrew Coric and their associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of Joel Cavaness, president of Risk Placement Services Inc., Gallagher’s wholesale broker and managing general agency (MGA).
Founded in 1962, H.R. Keller & Co. is a MGA, surplus lines broker and program administrator serving clients primarily in New York and the surrounding states.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Ill. The company has operations in 34 countries.