OPTIS: Insurance Agency M&A Down 10% This Year

The total of insurance agency mergers and acquisitions as of the end of September was down 10% from the same period in 2023, according to investment banking and financial consulting firm OPTIS Partners.

OPTIS Partners’ M&A database counted 535 announced insurance agency mergers and acquisitions nine months into 2024, down from 594 as of September 30 a year ago.

Deal count during Q1-Q3 was 13% below the average from the last 5 years, OPTIS said. However, deal count for the third quarter 2024 was up 14% compared to the second quarter, to 198.

Steve Germundson, partner, said there have been two consecutive quarters of increasing deal counts following six straight quarters of falling counts.

“While two quarters do not a trend make, we believe that we’re at or near the bottom of the deal-flow trough,” Germundson added in statement.

OPTIS said it expects “significant transactions” in the next 12-15 months, and highlighted Marsh & McLennan’s deal to acquire McGriff Insurance Services for $7.75 billion and IMA Financial’s acquisition of Wallace Welch & Willingham as recent Q3 examples.

BroadStreet Partners recorded the most transactions year-to-date with 68—up 50% from the same period a year ago. Hub International and Inszone and Hub followed with 39 and 38 deals, respectively. Patriot Growth was next with 32 deals, and nearly doubled its transactions over the prior year. Of the 87 different buyers through nine months of 2024, 25 made their first deal. About 70 did fewer than 10 transactions.

Chicago-based OPTIS noted that private equity-backed/hybrid buyers had 73% of all acquisitions for the last 12 months. Publicly held brokers and all others accounted for 10% of deals.