Carlyle Group Acquires Wholesale Trading Co-Op in New York

Wholesale Trading Co-Op Insurance Services, a wholesale brokerage based in New York City, recently announced that its assets will be acquired by private-equity giant Carlyle Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Wholesale Trading Co-Op Insurance Services will be renamed Wholesale Trading Insurance Services LLC (WTIS). Its approximately 40 employees will all stay on. The firm was previously owned by its management team and external private investors.

WTIS will become part of Carlyle Group’s JenCap Holdings LLC in New York City and lead its transactional wholesale brokerage operation. JenCap Holdings is a newly formed insurance holding entity whose majority stake was acquired by Carlyle Group.

Following the transaction, John F. Jennings, who has been serving as president and chief executive officer of Wholesale Trading Co-Op Insurance Services, will be named president and CEO of JenCap Holdings. Kristopher Bauer, co-head of Casualty Practice at Wholesale Trading Co-Op Insurance Services, will be named president of WTIS.

JenCap Holdings will serve as a consolidator of specialty insurance distribution and program management businesses, including managing general agencies, specialty program underwriters, transactional wholesale brokers and captive managers.

WTIS will continue to operate from its current locations in New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta and Princeton, New Jersey.