Business Moves

NSM, Carlyle Group

Private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. has agreed to acquire U.S. specialty insurance provider NSM Insurance Group from White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. WTM.N for $1.78 billion in cash, according to Reuters.

Carlyle said the deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. The transaction is expected to add $280 per share to White Mountains’ adjusted book value.

Private equity firms have been driving consolidation in the insurance brokerage sector. Mergers and acquisitions in the insurance sector more than doubled in volume to a total of $58 billion in 2021 from $22 billion a year earlier, according to consulting firm Deloitte.

Pennsylvania-based NSM Insurance is one of the largest independent insurance brokerages that underwrites policies for pets, non-profit organizations, workers’ compensation, trucks and behavioral healthcare. NSM generates more than $1 billion in premiums from more than one million clients, according to its website.

Carlyle has invested more than $10 billion in the financial services space, including U.S. insurance claims firm Sedgwick Claims Management Services and China’s Ant Group.

Cross, Humphrey, Byfield Agencies

Cross Insurance announced the acquisition of Newburyport, Massachusetts-based Harold Humphrey Insurance Agency Inc. and its sister agency, Byfield Insurance Agency Inc., both offering personal and small business coverage.

Cross also announced the opening of a Newburyport branch office located at Port Plaza Shopping Center, bolstering its presence in the coastal market.

Humphrey & Byfield will both operate under the name Cross Insurance-Newburyport with Dave Messersmith, president of Cross Insurance-Coastal Region serving as the regional president for the Newburyport office.

Since its founding in 1954, Cross Insurance has grown through the acquisition of more than 120 insurance agencies throughout the Northeast. The company now has over 1,000 employees operating out of offices in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Florida.

Hilb, Paige & Campbell, Taylor Palmer

National insurance agency The Hilb Group reports it has acquired Vermont-based Paige & Campbell Inc., and its subsidiary the Taylor Palmer Agency in Bradford, expanding the company’s growing presence throughout New England.

Based in Barre, Vermont — with additional offices in Bristol, Bradford, and Waitsfield — Paige & Campbell has served the area for more than 100 years.

Agency principals Steven and Jonathon Shea and their staff will join the Hilb Group’s New England regional operations.

The Hilb Group, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. The company has completed more than 130 acquisitions and now has more than 100 offices in 22 states.

Reliance Global, Barra & Associates

Reliance Global Group Inc. acquired Schaumburg, Illinois-based Barra & Associates, a provider of both personal and commercial insurance products, including property and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance and other insurance products.

Reliance acquired Barra for roughly $7.5 million, comprised of cash and debt.

Following the transaction, Grant Barra, founder and CEO of Barra, will continue to oversee the Barra & Associates subsidiary, as well as other senior responsibilities within the company.

Barra operates a growing network with over 60 agents and agency partners.

Reliance is combining advanced technologies, with the personalized experience of a traditional insurance agency model.

Oswald Companies, Gulick Roberts Group

Oswald Companies acquired Madeira, Ohio-based Gulick Roberts Group LLC.

Gulick Roberts Group, was founded by insurance executive Jim Gulick in 2017. The Gulick Roberts staff joined Oswald Companies as employee-owners.

Oswald Companies said the acquisition of Gulick Roberts, an agency that specializes in property/casualty insurance, follows a recent growth capital investment by Toronto-based Peloton Capital Management into the firm and its strategic partner, RCM&D, which in 2020 merged as Unison Risk Advisors.

URA features a combined workforce of more than 625 employee-owners in 13 office locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

Texan, Marek

Texan Insurance acquired Marek Insurance in an all-cash transaction.

Crosby, Texas-based Marek is Texan’s second agency purchase in three months and bringing its employee count to 75. The entire staff from Marek Insurance will continue to work for the agency to serve their clients.

Marek Insurance Agency is an independent insurance agency in the Crosby area, specializing in personal and commercial insurance needs.

Texan Insurance is an agency serving the greater Houston area since 1985.

Relation, Rabon Agency

Relation Insurance Services has acquired North Carolina-based Rabon Insurance Agency, which was previously part of Nationwide’s exclusive distribution model.

Rabon, headquartered in Monroe, North Carolina, provides personal and commercial lines insurance across the state. Ashley Rabon will continue to lead the agency.

Relation Insurance Services said it is a fast-growing national brokerage with 1,200 employees.

First Light, NTIS

First Light Program Managers Inc. and NTIS Inc. dba NTIS Transportation Insurance Services of Las Vegas, Nevada, have entered into an agreement for First Light Program Managers to acquire substantially all of NTIS.

NTIS, a wholesaler and managing general agency, specializes in the trucking industry, providing auto liability, auto physical damage, motor truck cargo and general liability coverage on a wholesale basis throughout the western United States.

First Light Program Managers is a managing general agency that offers specialty insurance products in the trucking, transportation, and marine sectors through a network of insurance agencies throughout the U.S.

Hub, Hanson Insurance Group

Hub International Ltd. acquired the assets of BDTAB LLC and Corvallis Insurance LLC, collectively doing business as Hanson Insurance Group, in Corvallis, Oregon.

Brad Hanson, CEO of Hanson Insurance Group, Vice President Trent Hanson, and the rest of the Hanson Insurance Group team will join Hub Northwest.

Hanson Insurance Group is an independent agency that provides business and personal insurance.

Chicago, Illinois-based Hub International is an insurance broker and financial services firm providing risk management, insurance, employee benefits, retirement and wealth management products and services through more than 14,000 employees in North America.