7 minute read
Business Moves
OneBeacon Insurance Group said it has acquired International Bond & Marine Brokerage Ltd. (IB&M), a privately held brokerage and risk management firm spe cializing in the international trade markets.
IB&M will retain its brand and operate as a standalone brokerage, offering customs bonds, cargo, liability and other insurance coverages through its current select markets and now additionally through OneBeacon.
IB &M, headed by Kevin Tattam, presi dent, is based in Hoboken, N.J., and has an office in Manha ttan Beach, Calif.
IB&M offers custom bonds, ATA carnet bonds, ocean transportation bonds; marine, E&O/freight legal liability, and business insurance; and a technology platform for logistics companies to manage their transactions.
OneB eacon Insurance Group is the mar keting brand for the insurance company subsidiaries of In tact Insurance Group USA LLC, a member of Intact Financial Corporation, the largest provider of prop erty and casualty insurance in Canada, and a spec ialty insurance carrier in North America.
Coverages for OneBeacon Insurance Group are underwritten by the following companies: Atlantic Specialty Insurance Co.; Homeland Insurance Company of New York; Homeland Insurance Company of Delaware; OBI America Insurance Co.; OBI National Insurance Co. or The Guarantee
Company of North America USA.
World Insurance Associates LLC acquired Airways International Insurance Services LLC of Mickelton, N.J., on May 1, 2020. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ale x Morris founded Airways International Insurance Services in 2006 after more than 30 years of experience in the aerospace Industry. AIIS offers a range of products and services for the aviation and marine industries in addition to sound professional advice and contract reviews. Alex and the AIIS team are licensed pilots with more than 65 combined years of industry and professional underwriting experience.
WIA is headquartered in Tinton Falls, N.J., and is a full-service insurance broker age providing asset and lifestyle protection w ith risk management, insurance and benefit consulting services for individuals and businesses.
NFP, Rose & Kiernan
NFP, an insurance broker and consultant that provides property and casualty, corporate benefits, retirement and individual solutions, has acquir ed Rose & Kiernan Inc. in a transaction that closed effective August 1, 2020.
R ose & Kiernan, based in Albany, N.Y., is a multidisciplinary insurance broker with capabilities in property and casualty, surety and employee benefits. Founded in 1869, the firm provides a variety of solutions, including insurance, employee benefits and risk management, to businesses, individuals and public and private organizations primarily in New York state and New England. The firm was named as one of Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Independent Agencies in August 2019.
J ohn Murray, president, chairman and CEO of Rose & Kiernan, will continue to lead the team and its operations in Albany and report to Bill Austin, president of the Northeast region, following the transac tion.
NFP is an insurance broker and consultant providing specialized property and c asualty, corporate benefits, retirement and individual solutions through its licensed subsidiaries and affiliates.
Midwest Associated Agencies, Bensman Risk Management, Bensman Associates
Associated Agencies Inc., a privately held insurance and risk management firm based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., has acquired Bensman Risk Management Inc. and Bensman Associates Ltd., a Bannockburn, Ill.-based insurance, risk management and strategic planning firm led by CEO Bob Bensman.
Assoc iated and its individual insurance business, Auto & Home, will work with The Bensman Group to further develop a high-net-worth individual insurance and risk advisory practice.
Bob Bensman began The Bensman Group in 1976. Through the years, the firm has grown from being primarily focused on life insurance to a multi-discipline finan cial services firm, including individual and corpora te services.
Bensman will continue as CEO and founder of Bensman Risk Management Inc. and Bensman Associates Ltd., a division of Associated Insurance and Risk Management Advisors.
Keystone Agency Investors, Midwest Risk Partners
Keystone Agency Investors, a new strategic partnership formed by Keystone
Insurers Group and Bain Capital Credit, has acquired four St. Louis, Missouri-based insurance agencies, which together will form Midwest Risk Partners LLC, a custom insurance platform serving the greater St. Louis area.
Midwest Risk Partners is comprised of former partner agencies including St. Charles Insurance Group LLC, Jerome L. Howe Inc., Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, and Bowersox Insurance Agency Company. Combined, each agency’s product suite includes insurance and risk management services for businesses including workers’ compensation, claim and risk management programs, health and wellness programs, benefits, and financial services, as well as a full line of personal insurance products.
Midwest Risk Partners marks KAI’s fourth acquisition since launching in July 2020.
South Central State Farm, GAINSCO
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. is acquiring Dallas-based nonstandard auto insurer, GAINSCO, in a $400 million cash transaction. It will be the first time in State Farm’s 98-year history that it has acquired an insurance company, the company said.
The acquisi tion, which is expected to close in early 2021, is subject to the approval of GAINSCO’s shareholders, the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-ScottRodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, obtaining regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
GAINSCO, founded in 1978, specializes in minimum-limits personal auto coverage and actively distributes its nonstandard personal auto products through inde pendent retail agents in Arizona, Florida, G eorgia, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Ohio and Alabama. Its insurance opera tions are conducted through its subsidiary, MGA Insurance Compan y Inc., a Texas corporation.
Headquartered in Dallas, GAINSCO also has a regional office in Miami, Florida. Under the merger agreement, upon closing State Farm Mutual will acquire 100% GAINSCO Inc. stock; GAINSCO sharehold ers will receive approximately $107.38 per shar e in cash.
GAINSCO w ill continue to operate as a separate company and brand with contin ued focus on its current objectives. Over time, the parties e xpect to provide State Farm agents the opportunity to distribute GAINSCO products in addition to State Farm products and services.
Barclays Capital Inc. was the financial adviser to State Farm, and Mayer Brown LLP served as legal counsel for State Farm. Sherman & Company was the financial adviser to GAINSCO, and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP served as legal counsel for GAINSCO.
Hub International, Hollis Companies, Employee Benefits Corp., Todd & Associates
Chicago-based global insurance brokerage Hub International Limited has acquired the assets of Hollis Companies L.L.C. and The Employee Benefits Corp., located in Metairie, Louisiana.
In a separa te transaction, Hub acquired the assets of Todd & Associates LLC, an independent insurance agency located in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
TEBC and H ollis Companies are an employee benefits consulting firm provid ing benefits solutions, workplace-wellness plans and guidance on compliance issues to clients.
Michael Hollis, president and CEO of TEBC and Hollis Companies, will join Hub Gulf South and report to Hub Gulf South President Shaun Norris.
Todd & Associates is an independently owned agency with more than 100 years of combined experience in the insurance industry.
The agency provides insurance products and services tailored to clients’ specific risk needs, including medical professional liability insurance.
Hub said this expertise in healthcare supports its specialty practices by comple menting and strengthening Hub’s existing c apabilities.
Louis Todd, owner of Todd & Associates, along with his team, will join Hub Gulf South.
Southeast Brown & Brown, Frank E. Neal & Co.
Brown & Brown of Tennessee Inc., a subsidiary of Brown & Brown Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of the Frank E. Neal & Co. Agency, according to an announcement from J. Scott Penny, chief acquisitions officer of Brown & Brown Inc., and Wink, Mark and Brent Neal, the owners of Frank E. Neal & Co.
F rank E. Neal & Co. has provided commercial, surety, personal and employee benefits insurance options to entrepreneurs, businesses and individuals throughout the Southeast region of the United States for more than 45 years. The agency has specialized in providing surety bonds and commercial insurance products within the construction industry.
The Frank E. Neal team will join with the existing Brown & Brown of Tennessee team in Nashville. Brown & Brown of Tennessee operates under local leadership of Ryan Rothrock and regional leadership of John Esposito.
Br own & Brown Inc. is an insurance bro kerage firm, providing risk management to indi viduals and businesses.
West Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Erin P. Collins & Associates
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Kingman, Ariz.-based Erin P. Collins & Associates Inc.
Erin Collins and his associates will continue to operate from their current locations under the direction of Scott Gregory, head of Gallagher’s Southwest region employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations.
ECA is an emplo yee benefits and workplace well-being consultant serving clients throughout Arizona from offices in Kingman and Phoenix.
Arthur J. Gallagher is an insurance bro kerage, risk management and consulting ser vices firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Ill.
