Business Moves

Majesco, Agile

Insurance technology firm Majesco has completed the acquisition of the insurance business of Agile Technologies, a technology consulting firm with revenues of more than $9 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In December 2014, Majesco announced the acquisition and said it also planned to merge with Cover-All Technologies, another insurance tech company. The Cover-All deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015 and will create an operation with $100 million in annual revenue and a global reach. Cover-All provides browser-based commercial lines policy, business intelligence, and claims programs.

Majesco said the addition of Agile’s consulting services will support and accelerate the company’s growth plans. Agile is fully integrated into Majesco and will operate under the Majesco brand, the firm said.

All employees including the leadership team at Agile have joined Majesco.

Bill Freitag, founder of Agile as well as its managing partner and CEO, has joined Majesco as executive vice president. He will lead Majesco’s consulting business.

John Johansen, former partner and co-founder at Agile, has joined Majesco’s executive team as senior vice president with responsibility for leading data strategy and business intelligence.

Robert Buhrle, former partner at Agile, has joined Majesco as vice president of client servicing.

Majesco provides core policy administration, distribution management, underwriting, billing applications and portals to insurance carriers. The firm is based in New York and has offices in Edison, N.J.; Glastonbury, Conn.; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; India; the United Kingdom; Malaysia; Singapore; and Thailand.

Agile has offices in New Jersey, Georgia and Ohio.

MAPFRE, MiddleOak Insurance

Spanish insurance giant MAPFRE SA has said it wants to expand and is eying acquisitions in Europe and the United States, most recently closing on a deal in New England.

Carrier Management, a sister publication of Insurance Journal, reported on February 5 that MAPFRE, in an email to affected agencies, revealed its U.S. arm inked a deal with MiddleOak Insurance to take over its personal lines insurance business. MiddleOak, which was formed by Massachusetts companies Holyoke Mutual Insurance Co. and Middlesex Mutual Insurance in 2006, will continue with its commercial lines business.

MAPFRE USA, which has its U.S. headquarters in Webster, Mass., writes in 17 states, offering private passenger auto, home and commercial auto and property through various underwriting companies that include The Commerce Insurance Co., American Commerce Insurance Co. (Columbus, Ohio), and Citation Insurance Co. MAPFRE primarily focuses on New England, where it writes $1.6 billion in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. MiddleOak’s book will add business in Maine and Vermont.

MiddleOak writes commercial residential property for apartments and community associations across the country, and personal home, auto and boat insurance in New England.

MiddleOak CEO Gary Vallo said his operation will begin to withdraw from personal lines on March 1, and that MAPFRE USA “will offer a policy of insurance to most MiddleOak policyholders who would otherwise have been renewed by MiddleOak.”

MiddleOak is exiting personal lines because it is a “high risk/low return business for MiddleOak” and that “associated catastrophe reinsurance expenses impose a significant burden on personal lines profitability,” Vallo said.

Additionally, evolving financial regulation is burdensome and expensive, and “diversifying personal lines outside of New England is infeasible given MiddleOak’s agency relationship-based strategy,” he added.

Vallo said, however, that MAPFRE USA will make the transition seamless, and “MiddleOak personal lines agents and policyowners will be better served aligning with MAPFRE USA, a provider committed to making the investments required for future success in personal lines with independent agents.”

John Kelly, MAPFE USA’s senior vice president of business development – Eastern region, worked to assure MiddleOak agents about the transition. He said MAPFRE would make MiddleOak specialty products available to affected agents late in 2015. He also said that MAPFRE has offered jobs “to some MiddleOak employees … to assist our efforts in minimizing any disruption.”

Brown & Brown, Liberty Insurance Brokers

Brown & Brown Inc. announced that its subsidiary Brown & Brown of Pennsylvania LP has acquired certain assets of Liberty Insurance Brokers Inc. and its related affiliate companies in Philadelphia. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1996, Liberty Insurance Brokers and its affiliate companies provide commercial and personal lines insurance for the multi-family residential industry primarily in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Liberty Insurance Brokers and its affiliates report annual revenues of approximately $4 million.

As part of the transaction, Liberty Insurance Brokers’ President and Founder Scott Engel and his team will combine with Brown & Brown of Pennsylvania’s existing Plymouth Meeting, Pa., location under the leadership of Rob Heller.

Florida-based national insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers insurance and reinsurance products and related services. Additionally, certain Brown & Brown subsidiaries offer a variety of risk management, third-party administration and other services. Brown & Brown serves business, public entity, individual, trade and professional association clients nationwide.

Smith Brothers, McMahon Company

Smith Brothers Insurance LLC, an independent insurance agency based in Glastonbury, Conn., has acquired the assets of the McMahon Company Inc., an independent agency in Rocky Hill, Conn. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The McMahon Company, founded in 1970 and led by Blaine Kaiser, provides insurance and risk management services for businesses and individuals in the greater Hartford community. The McMahon Company plans to retain the company name, and the firm’s team of six employees will remain in the Rocky Hill location.

Smith Brothers Insurance provides insurance, surety, risk management, employee benefits, and financial services to individuals and businesses. Headquartered in Glastonbury, Smith Brothers has additional satellite locations in Waterford, Conn. (operating as Atlantic Insurance); Chester, Conn. (Archambault Insurance); Northampton, Mass.; and also in Rocky Hill, Conn., following the McMahon Company acquisition. In total, Smith Brothers has approximately 115 employees.

Spencer Capital, USA Risk Group

Spencer Capital Holdings Ltd., the parent company of reinsurer Spencer Re, has agreed to acquire USA Risk Group, an independent captive insurance manager based in Barre, Vt. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The transaction is subject to customary closing requirements and regulatory approval, and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.

Founded in 1981, USA Risk Group is an independent provider of alternative risk management services with captive management operations in Arizona, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Grand Cayman, Malta, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont, managing companies in 20 domiciles. USA Risk serves more than 300 clients, holding $9 billion assets under management. USA Risk has 70 employees on- and offshore.

Spencer Capital Holdings Ltd. said its reinsurance subsidiary Spencer Re and USA Risk are expected to be mutual beneficiaries from cross-selling opportunities. Spencer Re is a reinsurance company focused on the U.S. auto dealership industry.

After the transaction closing, H. Lincoln Miller, Jr., group chairman of USA Risk, will join the board of directors of Spencer Capital. Gary Osborne, president of USA Risk, will join the Spencer Re board of directors.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Aequus Trade Credit

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Aequus Trade Credit LLC in Warren, N.J. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1997, Aequus Trade Credit is a specialist insurance broker that offers credit risk mitigation products and services.Aequus Trade Credit focuses on credit and political risk insurance and accounts receivable puts for middle-market and Fortune 1000 clients throughout the United States. Marc Wagman and his associates will continue to operate under the direction of Douglas Brown, head of Arthur J. Gallagher’s Northeastern region retail property/casualty brokerage operation.

Arthur J. Gallagher said Aequus Trade Credit’s team and its expertise will complement Arthur J. Gallagher’s Trade Credit and Political Risk practice group.

Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm. It has operations in 30 countries and offers client service capabilities in more than 140 countries through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.

United Insurance, Shiretown Agency

United Insurance, an independent insurance agency headquartered in Falmouth, Maine, announced the acquisition of the Shiretown Agency in Farmington, Maine. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

United Insurance has 16 Maine locations and one in Rochester, N.H. The firm provides personal and business insurance, employee benefits and risk management services.

Shiretown Agency and its six staff members will continue to operate from their Farmington location.

Clark Insurance, James L. Cooney

Clark Insurance, an employee-owned independent insurance agency with offices in Maine and New Hampshire, has acquired the James L. Cooney Insurance Agency of Lowell, Mass. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The James L. Cooney Insurance Agency began business as the Cooney and Lynn Agency in 1946. The agency offers personal, commercial and employee benefits insurance to families and businesses throughout the region. The office will remain in its location in Lowell.

The James L. Cooney Real Estate Agency, the real estate agency part of the James L. Cooney company, was not part of the sale and will continue to be retained by the James L. Cooney company owners.

Clark Insurance is an employee-owned agency founded in 1931 in Portland, Maine, and has grown to more than 100 employees in four Maine locations, one in Manchester, N.H., and now an office in Lowell, Mass.

Topics USA Pennsylvania A.J. Gallagher Maine