Business Moves
Altamont Capital Partners, Topa Insurance Group
Altamont Capital Partners has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Calabasas, Calif.-based Topa Insurance Group from its long-time owner, Topa Equities Ltd. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals.
While Altamont will assume majority control, Topa Equities will maintain a minority equity stake in the business following the closing.
Topa is the parent company of Topa Insurance Co., and Dorchester Insurance Co. Topa wrote a reported $130 million of gross written premium in 2018 that it sold through wholesale brokers and managing general agents.
The company said its strategy for the business will remain “largely the same in terms of a focus on specialty P/C lines, but with added support from Altamont to further build the business through acquiring both new capabilities and areas of expertise.”
Altamont Capital Partners is a private investment firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with more than $2.5 billion of assets under management. Along with Altamont’s current investments in Embark General, Kuvare Holdings and Accelerant Holdings, Topa represents Altamont’s seventh platform investment in insurance and insurance services, and its 19th overall insurance acquisition.
Founded by John E. Anderson in 1956, Topa Equities Ltd. is a private diversified holding company. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company owns more than 25 subsidiaries with primary locations in Southern California, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Topa has four main lines of business: beverage distribution, automotive retail, insurance and real estate.
SOBC DARAG, Innovative Physicians Solutions RRG
SOBC DARAG has acquired Innovative Physicians Solutions RRG (IPS) after receiving approval from the Vermont Department of Financial Services for the transaction.
Mark Tabler, chief operating officer of IPS, will transfer to SOBC DARAG after the sale to help with the transition.
Stephanie Mocatta, CEO of SOBC DARAG, said that this is SOBC DARAG’s second acquisition in Vermont of a risk retention group in recent months, and fourth overall.
SOBC DARAG Holdings is owned by DARAG Group investors. SOBC DARAG Holdings, a direct subsidiary of DARAG UK, is the principal vehicle for future U.S., Bermudian and Caribbean growth and acquisitions.
RiverStone, Rockville Risk Management and ER Quinn Company
RiverStone has acquired Rockville Risk Management and ER Quinn Co.
Rockville is a New York-based, privately owned third-party administrator and loss adjusting company that provides comprehensive claim services to insurers, syndicates, managing general agents, re-insurers and self-insureds.
Following the acquisition, Rockville will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of RiverStone.
RiverStone is an insurance run-off management company that offers claims management expertise and serves commercial and institutional customers across the U.S., Canada and Europe through strategic advisory services in the field of insurance and reinsurance contracts, insurance and reinsurance claim assessments and litigation and dispute resolution in the field of insurance and reinsurance.
Sedgwick, York Risk Services Group
Sedgwick, a global provider of technology-enabled risk, benefits and integrated business products, has signed an agreement to acquire York Risk Services Group.
York is a Jersey City, N.J.-headquartered provider of claims administration, managed care, specialized loss adjusting, pool administration and loss control products. It serves a variety of clients, including corporations, the insurance industry and public entities.
BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisors to Sedgwick, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Clifford Chance US LLP served as legal advisors. Jefferies LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as financial advisors to York, and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP served as its legal advisor. BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. have provided committed debt financing for the transaction.
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., DPI Benefits
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Manhattan, Kan.-based Darrell Phillips Inc., dba DPI Benefits. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Operating since 2008, DPI Benefits is an independent benefits broker and consultant offering qualified retirement plans and group benefits to hospitals and other businesses throughout Kansas.
Darrell Phillips and his associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of Jerry Roberts, head of Gallagher’s Heartland region employee benefits consulting and brokerage division, and Jeff Leonard, National Financial and Retirement Services practice leader.
U.S. Risk, U.S. E&O Brokers
Dallas-based property/casualty insurance wholesaler and managing general agent U.S. Risk LLC has acquired U.S. E&O Brokers, a wholesale broker and MGA.
U.S. E&O is headquartered in Houston, with additional locations in Connecticut, Colorado and New Mexico.
The U.S. E&O team, headed by Angela T. Schroder, will join U.S. Risk Underwriters, the specialty programs division of U.S. Risk.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
U.S. Risk operates 17 domestic and international branches, and offers a range of products and services through its affiliate companies.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Gillis, Ellis & Baker Inc.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired New Orleans-based Gillis, Ellis & Baker Inc.
Founded in 1933, Gillis, Ellis & Baker is a commercial retail property/casualty broker offering personal lines and employee benefit services across the Southeast.
R. Parke Ellis, W. Anderson Baker III and their associates will operate from their current location under the direction of Bumpy Triche, head of Gallagher’s Mid-South region retail property/casualty operations, and Robby White, head of Gallagher’s South Central region employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations.
A fourth-generation family run business, Gillis, Ellis & Baker specializes in real estate, healthcare, environmental, scholastic, nonprofit, and private client products and services.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Ill.
Legion Claims Solutions
Steve Brown and Mike Worley have launched Legion Claims Solutions LLC (Legion), a firm specializing in the management of catastrophe insurance claims, environmental/industrial claims, and governmental disaster recovery programs, in Baton Rouge, La.
Brown serves as CEO, and Worley serves as COO.
Joining them is a team consisting of current staff, former employees, and newly hired insurance claims professionals who offer a comprehensive suite of technology-driven insurance claims services and disaster recovery resources.
Worley has built and led teams that excelled in coordinating large-scale disaster and insurance response efforts nationally, including major hurricanes, earthquakes, and most notably the BP Oil Spill Claims Response in 2010.
Brown and his company have focused primarily on multi-lines daily insurance claims services for over 25 years.
World Insurance Associates, West Coast Insurance Group, Combs Insurance
World Insurance Associates LLC, an independent insurance agency headquartered in Tinton Falls, N.J., has expanded its presence in Florida.
West Coast Insurance Group of Saint Petersburg, Fla., brings several Florida insurance markets and 15 employees to the World Insurance Associates organization.
Combs Insurance, located in Vero Beach, Fla., provides insurance products to Indian River County and surrounding areas. Established in 1992, Combs specializes in insurance for individuals and families.
Gregory D. Leifer of West Coast Insurance Group joins World Insurance Associates as principal.
World Insurance Associates LLC (WIA) is an independent insurance agency headquartered in Tinton Falls, N.J. It offers personal and business insurance solutions in 50 states, providing group benefits and property/casualty insurance to companies of all sizes in a variety of industries in addition to insurance services for individuals, focusing on coastal properties and high-net-worth clients.
WIA began business in 2012, has completed 44 acquisitions. It serves its customers from 30 offices in N.J., Pa., N.Y., Conn., R.I., Maine, Ohio, Fla., and Washington, D.C. The company has been named a Top 100 Independent Property/Casualty Agency by Insurance Journal.
BRP Partners with Foundation Insurance of Florida.
EPIC, Trumark Insurance & Financial Services
EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has acquired Trumark Insurance & Financial Services in a Pleasanton, Calif.
Trumark is a brokerage/general agency specializing in the institutional financial advisory market.
EPIC is a retail property/casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm.
AmWINS Group, LISI, CoPower
AmWINS Group Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LISI Inc. and CoPower, Inc.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close later, pending regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.
LISI Inc. is a California-based general agent specializing in medical and ancillary benefits. CoPower Inc. is a third-party administrator in California focused on providing consolidated administration in the ancillary space.
LISI and CoPower will become part of AmWINS’ Group Benefits division, which consists of 10 operating companies that develop, underwrite, distribute and administer niche employee benefit programs.
Charlotte, N.C.-based AmWINS Group is an independent wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products.