Marsh Acquires Cosmos Services, a U.S. Brokerage Unit of Itochu Corp.

Marsh, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Companies, acquired Cosmos Services (America) Inc., the U.S. insurance brokerage subsidiary of global trading firm Itochu Corporation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, Cosmos specializes in providing commercial property/casualty, personal lines, and employee benefits brokerage services to U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese companies. It has annual revenues of $8 million. Itochu Corporation is a Japanese global trading company with some 62,600 employees around the world.

Cosmos’ employees will become part of Marsh’s Asia Client Services (ACS) team. The deal further strengthens Marsh’s capabilities and resources in serving Japanese clients in the U.S. and also forges a strategic relationship between Marsh and Itochu.

“The combination of Marsh and Cosmos is positive news for clients. Marsh’s existing strong Japan client base in the U.S. will benefit from Cosmos’ deep expertise and familiarity with the Japanese culture and language, while Cosmos’ clients will immediately benefit from a new range of expertise and capabilities that will now be available through Marsh,” said David Batchelor, head of Marsh’s international division.

Hirofumi Shimoyama, Marsh’s Japan country head and global Japan client services leader, added: “As more Japanese companies seek to expand their operations overseas, they need global risk and insurance advisors who understand their corporate culture and can provide innovative solutions anywhere around the world. With the acquisition of Cosmos, Marsh is furthering its commitment to Japanese clients operating in the United States.”

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions USA Agencies