Business Moves

National

ProAssurance, NORCAL

Healthcare liability insurer ProAssurance Corp. has agreed to acquire medical professional liability insurer NORCAL Mutual Insurance Co. following NORCAL’s demutualization in a $450 million transaction.

Based on available estimates of premium, the combination of these companies is expected to create the nation’s third largest specialty writer of liability insurance for healthcare professionals and facilities.

Pennsylvania-based NORCAL writes in 39 states. It reported $342 million in direct written premium in 2018 and $50 million net income. The company’s underwriting performance and overall profitability have “deteriorated sharply recently driven by significant adverse reserve development,” according to Fitch Ratings, which does not rate NORCAL but placed its “A” ratings for ProAssurance on negative watch following the deal announcement.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, ProAssurance serves more than 54,000 healthcare providers in 49 states. The company had annualized medical professional liability gross written premium of approximately $475 million and assets of more than $4.8 billion at Sept. 30, 2019.

The boards of directors for both companies have approved the transaction. The companies are hoping to close the transaction by the end of 2020, subject to required approvals.

ProAssurance said it will pay a base consideration of $450 million in cash, with a contingent consideration of up to $150 million should ultimate loss estimates as of the acquisition date develop favorably. In addition, NORCAL will have the opportunity to nominate two individuals to new seats on the ProAssurance board.

East

Alera Group, Sylvia Group

Alera Group, a national employee benefits, property and casualty, retirement services and wealth management firm, has acquired Sylvia Group, effective Dec. 31, 2019.

Located in Dartmouth, Mass., Sylvia Group has been serving clients throughout New England since its founding in 1950. It aims to provide clients with solutions in personal insurance, business insurance, employee benefits and financial planning. Sylvia Group has expertise in serving nonprofits and startups, making them a key partner for organizations throughout the region.

All Sylvia Group employees will continue operating out of the firm’s existing location under the name Sylvia Group, an Alera Group Company LLC.

Based in Deerfield, Ill., Alera Group’s more than 1,800 employees serve thousands of clients nationally in employee benefits, property and casualty, retirement services and wealth management.

The Hilb Group, BR Vital Brokerage

The Hilb Group LLC has acquired New York-based BR Vital Brokerage Inc. The transaction became effective January 1, 2020.

Based in Brooklyn, N.Y., BRV is an independent brokerage primarily providing property and casualty insurance with a specialty in providing liability coverage to medical professionals.

Steven Bykovsky, owner of BRV, will continue to lead BRV’s associates out of its existing location in Brooklyn.

THG is a middle market insurance agency headquartered in Richmond, Va., and is a portfolio company of global investment firm, The Carlyle Group. THG seeks to grow through targeted acquisitions in the middle market insurance brokerage space. The company now has more than 90 offices in 20 states.

The Hilb Group, Martens Johnson Insurance Agency

The Hilb Group LLC has acquired Maryland-based Martens Johnson Insurance Agency Inc. The transaction became effective January 1, 2020.

MJIA is a full-service insurance agency focused on the unique needs of the commercial transportation industry in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., metro areas.

MJIA’s associates will continue to operate out of their current office under the management of Agency Leader Bryan Johnson following the acquisition.

THG is a middle market insurance agency headquartered in Richmond, Va., and is a portfolio company of global investment firm, The Carlyle Group. THG seeks to grow through targeted acquisitions in the middle market insurance brokerage space. The company now has more than 90 offices in 20 states.

CoreLogic, Location

CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, has completed the company’s acquisition of Location Inc., a Worcester, Mass.-based leader in geographic data sciences and predictive, location-based analytics for businesses across the U.S. and Canada.

Location Inc.’s proprietary RiskSuite and NeighborhoodScout solutions combine the company’s spatial and property risk assets with machine learning and analytics expertise to provide market insights, projections and risk assessments for the insurance, real estate and finance sectors.

Commercial and residential underwriters rely on Location Inc.’s suite of claims risk products, including non-weather WaterRisk and FireRisk, as well as HailRisk.

CrimeRisk, Location Inc.’s high-resolution crime analytics, offers crime risk data on the market today and is used by insurers across North America.

Midwest

LMC Insurance & Risk Management, AssuredPartners

LMC Insurance & Risk Management, headquartered in West De Moines, Iowa, has joined Florida-based AssuredPartners Inc.’s national broker team.

LMC’s operations consist of 290 dedicated employees who will remain under the operational leadership of LMC President and CEO Greg LaMair.

LMC’s founding dates back to 1865. The group provides property/casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal lines, financial services and risk management services.

In addition to Des Moines, LMC has offices in Omaha, Neb., and Madison, Wis. LMC also has four additional licensed insurance subsidiaries, including Independent Insurance Services, Molyneaux Insurance, The Friedman Group, Inc. and Agri-Business Insurance Services, with offices in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Affiliated Benefit Consultants

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Oakbrook, Illinois-based Affiliated Benefit Consultants Inc.

Founded in 1986, Affiliated Benefit Consultants offers a full suite of benefits consulting services to clients throughout the United States.

John Araujo and his associates will continue to operate in their current location under the direction of Tom Lannen, head of Gallagher’s Great Lakes region employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

South Central

USI, Forte Benefits

USI Insurance Services has acquired Fort Worth, Texas-based Forte Benefits, a full-service employee benefit broker-consulting firm.

All of the agency’s employees and four partners — Logan Dickinson, Jeff Farmer, David Farrell and Bill Hester — will be joining USI.

Headquartered in Valhalla, N.Y., USI delivers property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, program and retirement products and services to large risk management clients, middle market companies, smaller firms and individuals.

Southeast

Peel & Holland, Riddle Insurance

Peel & Holland Insurance has merged with Riddle Insurance of Madisonville, Ky., and its subsidiary, R. Barga and Company Insurance of Benton, Ky.

The companies provide business property and casualty insurance, surety and bonding, family insurance, and employee benefits plans, along with workplace wellness programs. This merger, which was finalized Jan. 1, 2020, combines teams totaling 83 employees in seven regional office locations across Western Kentucky.

From an operational standpoint, Riddle Insurance, R. Barga and Company, and Peel & Holland each will continue to function as independent insurance agencies with access to multiple carriers.

Riddle Insurance targets the coal mining industry as well as serving agriculture and contractors.

Peel & Holland is a privately-held independent insurance agency providing insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, employees, and public entities across 36 states. Established in 1924, Peel & Holland serves clients of all sizes across a wide variety of industries. Areas of specialized expertise include agri-business, construction/contractors, churches, financial services, local government, non-profits, schools and workplace wellness programs.

The company is headquartered in Benton, Ky., with offices also located in Franklin, Mayfield, Murray, and Paducah.

ITC, Agency Matrix

Insurance Technologies Corporation, a provider of websites, marketing, comparative rating and management software and services, has acquired Agency Matrix, an insurance technology provider headquartered in Georgia.

Founded in 2004, Agency Matrix’s product offerings include its agency management system, insurance agency websites, document management, and a virtual employee. The acquisition of Agency Matrix will extend ITC’s agency management system offering.

Through this acquisition, Agency Matrix clients will get access to ITC’s marketing products and services and TurboRater, ITC’s personal lines comparative rater. ITC’s clients will also be able to use the features available in the Agency Matrix agency management system.

Agency Matrix, LLC is a Duluth, Ga.-based technology company providing management system products to the insurance industry and small business owners. ITC is headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, and currently serves more than 200 insurers and more than 7,000 agencies.

West

AssuredPartners, Nevada West Business Insurance Agency

AssuredPartners Inc. has acquired Nevada West Business Insurance Agency Inc. in Las Vegas, Nev. The team of five will remain under the operational leadership of Jeff Maren. Nevada West Business Insurance Agency currently reports $1 million in annualized revenues.

Lake Mary, Fla.-based AssuredPartners acquires and invests in insurance brokerage businesses across the U.S. and in London.

Topics USA Illinois A.J. Gallagher Nevada