U.S. Broker Brown & Brown Agrees to Acquire UK’s Global Risk Partners Ltd.

U.S. broker Brown & Brown Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Global Risk Partners (GRP) from its private equity owner Searchlight Capital Partners L.P.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022. Brown & Brown said the deal will help it establish itself as a major force in the UK retail insurance market.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

London-based GRP was launched in 2013 by Peter Cullum, David Margrett and Stephen Ross. With annual revenue of approximately $340 million, GRP is one of the top three independent brokers in the UK, servicing nearly half a million personal and commercial customers. GRP controls or influences gross written premiums of £1.8 billion (US$2.3 billion), following a string of deals in 2021, including the acquisition of Marsh Networks and WTW Northern Ireland.

GRP group includes four pillars of operations: retail broking, specialist MGA, network and Lloyd’s businesses. The company employs more than 2,100 insurance professionals in more than 110 locations throughout the UK and Ireland.

GRP will operate within the Brown & Brown Retail segment and will continue to be led by Mike Bruce, global chief executive officer of GRP. Following the completion of the transaction, Bruce will report to Barrett Brown, president of the Retail segment and executive vice president. Bruce also will serve as a member of the Brown & Brown senior leadership team.

In a statement, Bruce said there will be no changes to the current management structure, no job losses and the portfolio of GRP brands will stay unchanged for the time being.

Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Brown & Brown is a publicly traded business that posted revenues of US$3.1 billion in 2021. It is the fifth largest U.S. broker and sixth largest international brokerage firm.

Brown & Brown’s existing subsidiaries in the UK and Ireland include O’Leary Insurances, a broker in the Republic of Ireland, and its wholly owned subsidiary Decus Insurance Brokers Ltd., a Lloyd’s coverholder. In February this year, Brown & Brown entered into an agreement to acquire BdB Ltd., a UK-based specialist wholesale broker that provides access to specialty products in the UK and Europe.

“We believe that aligning companies with common values will lead to shared success. Mike Bruce and the team at GRP are like-minded individuals that have a disciplined focus on doing what is best for their customers, teammates and carrier partners. GRP’s position as an industry leader in the UK, their experience in international markets and generation of new market segments will allow us to further expand our international footprint and broaden the scope of our global capabilities,” said J. Powell Brown, president and chief executive officer of Brown & Brown, in a statement.

“GRP’s hub and spoke model has created a highly successful growth engine in less than a decade. In our discussions with Mike Bruce and the team, we have been impressed by the entrepreneurial, owner-driven culture that exists throughout, both at the center, among the retail broking businesses across the UK and Ireland, and in the MGA and London Market divisions,” he added (in a separate statement issued by GRP).

“The addition of GRP, with their footprint across the UK and Ireland, helps us broaden our reach. Their highly successful acquisition experience will help us accelerate our growth on a global scale and expand our market relationships,” said Barrett Brown, president of the Retail segment.

“This is a superb deal for GRP. Brown & Brown’s ownership will bring a long-term perspective which opens up new opportunities for growth and provides the ideal springboard for continued strategic investment in GRP’s people and digital infrastructure. Our clients will also benefit from Brown & Brown’s long-established and valued relationships with U.S. insurers,” according to GRP’s CEO Bruce.

“Brown & Brown share a similar entrepreneurial ethos to us and invest heavily in their people. In particular, they have a very high percentage of teammates owning shares, giving the whole company, at every level, a chance to share in the overall success of the combined group,” Bruce continued.

He described Searchlight Capital Partners as an “exceptional” private equity owner since it acquired GRP in 2020. “Thanks to their continued investment throughout that period, both in technology and people, the business is a highly attractive proposition, and Brown & Brown will leverage those capabilities going forward,” he added.

Source: Brown & Brown and Global Risk Partners