View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-business-moves/2013/10/07/306776.htm
Ryan Specialty Group, S.H. Smith & Co.
Ryan Specialty Group LLC has agreed to merge S.H. Smith & Co. Inc. into R-T Specialty LLC, the wholesale brokerage unit of Ryan Specialty Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
S.H. Smith & Co. is one of the largest privately owned specialty brokerages in the country. Headquartered in Hartford, Conn., the firm is licensed in 50 states and works through a network of more than 2,000 independent retail agents.
Formed by Scott Smith in 1982, S.H. Smith & Co. has more than 90 team members and manages its business across four segments: professional and management liability; commercial property/casualty; in-house underwriting; and program business.
JLT, Towers Watson
United Kingdom-based broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (JLT) is acquiring the reinsurance brokerage business of New York-based Towers Watson for $250 million.
JLT said the acquisition would provide “a very strong reinsurance platform” in the key North American market and bring further strength in the London market and in the analytical capability.
Upon completion, Towers Watson’s reinsurance brokerage business will be merged with JLT’s reinsurance business, JLT Re. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The two businesses will be fully integrated over the course of 2014 and 2015.
The combined reinsurance business will have total revenues of $266 million and 700 employees in 35 locations in 17 countries. The combined business will be branded for a transitional period as JLT Towers Re.
Towers Watson’s reinsurance brokerage business generated revenues of $166 million and pre-tax profit of $26 million in the year ended June 2013, making it the fourth-largest reinsurance broker in the world, according to the announcement.
Doeren Mayhew, Wolf-Hulbert
Accounting and advisory firm Doeren Mayhew has merged with the Michigan-based insurance agency Wolf-Hulbert Co. LLC to form a new full-service insurance agency.
Wolf-Hulbert will transition to the newly combined entity name, Doeren Mayhew Insurance Group (DMIG), on Jan. 1, 2014. Operations for the insurance group will move to Doeren Mayhew’s Troy, Mich., headquarters building in early 2014.
Since its founding in 1884 in Detroit, Wolf-Hulbert has offered a comprehensive suite of property, casualty and life insurance to family owned businesses and large corporations, as well as personal insurance.
ProAssurance, Eastern Insurance Holdings
Medical professional liability insurer ProAssurance Corp. is acquiring monoline workers’ compensation insurer Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc. in an all-cash transaction that values Eastern at $24.50 per share.
Lancaster, Pa.-based Eastern will become a wholly owned subsidiary of ProAssurance. The transaction, with an aggregate value of approximately $205 million, is expected to close by Jan. 1, 2014, subject to regulatory and Eastern shareholder approval.
ProAssurance Chairman and CEO W. Stancil Starnes said Eastern has a “strong, long-term position” in health care workers’ compensation that will allow Birmingham, Ala.-based ProAssurance to broaden the products it offers to its existing customers.
ProAssurance said it will keep Eastern’s corporate office in Lancaster, and its existing regional and satellite offices under the direction of Eastern’s CEO Michael Boguski and his management team.
Krauter & Co.
Krauter & Co. has added a 10th U.S. base of operations with the addition of a new office in Houston.
The Texas-based team will focus on energy, aviation and upper mid-market and risk-management accounts. The team will serve both new and existing clients.
The company has recruited employees for the new office: Robert Palmer, James Pearson, Bart Porter and Natalie Hill.
Confie Seguros, Olympic Insurance
Confie Seguros has acquired Olympic Insurance in Shelton, Wash., a provider of auto, home and small commercial insurance.
Olympic Insurance was founded in 1997 and is a privately owned, independent insurance agency serving Washington. Olympic Insurance is Confie’s eighth acquisition in the Pacific Northwest.
NFP, Insurance West Corp.
NFP Property & Casualty Services Inc. has acquired Insurance West Corp., an independent insurance agency in Simi Valley, Calif., specializing in property/casualty for the entertainment industry. IWC will be fully integrated into NFP.
IWC provides personal, commercial and financial coverage, with a majority of its business focused on core commercial lines across manufacturing, transportation, construction and entertainment industries.