Pace of Insurance M&A Lagged in 2025 With No ‘Mad Dash’: OPTIS

Insurance agency mergers & acquisitions were down 12% in 2025, compared with 2024.

According to investment banking and financial consulting firm OPTIS Partners, there were 695 insurance agency deals in 2025. There were 787 deals in 2024.

Despite an uptick in activity in Q3, the last three months of 2025 contained the lowest amount of deals (157) since 2019. The amount was 47% lower than the 5-year average, according to OPTIS Partners’ M&A database.

“For the third consecutive year, there was no mad dash to close deals at year-end. The M&A market continues in a steady, albeit slowing state,” said Tim Cunningham, managing partner.

Partner Steve Germundson said there was an even distribution of deals throughout the year. The years 2019 and 2025 are the only years in which deal volume during Q4 was lower than other quarters, he said.

The number of large deals was highlighted by six firms with revenues over $25 million getting sold. Of those, Arthur J. Gallagher bought Assured Partners and Woodruff-Sawyer; Risk Strategies and One80 went to Brown & Brown; and The Baldwin Group acquired CAC Group.

“We expect more large deals and recapitalizations in 2026 as the chase for scale continues,” Cunningham said. “This will continue to benefit the better sellers, whose valuations should remain at their current heady levels, absent a major change in the underlying economy or the insurance marketplace.”

Property/casualty insurance agencies are the primary sellers, accounting for 455, or 66%, of the total transactions for the year. Private equity-backed/hybrid buyers continued to dominate buyers

PE firm BroadStreet lead all buyers in 2025 with 29 acquisitions, but that amount is down from 90 in the prior year. Hub International was next with 49 deals compared with 61 in 2024. Inszone Insurance Services was next with 45 deals. World Insurance Associates and Keystone Agency Partners were next, and each had more deals in 2025 than 2024.

OTIS said privately held brokers announced 9% fewer acquisitions. Of this group, Leavitt Group was the only firm to crack the top 10. Publicly held brokers did 27% fewer deals in 2025.

OPTIS said that, according to some estimates, there are about 30,000 independent insurance agencies with revenue of less than $1.25 million—”the vast majority with no ability to perpetuate.” Therefore, consolidation will continue with deal flow at current levels, the consulting firm added.