LONDON—Marsh Inc. said Friday that it will pay £135 million ($219.3 million) to acquire London-based HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd., to which analysts reacted favorably and cited it as a sign of a growing consolidation trend.

HIBL has 30 offices with 1,400 employees in the United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia.

New York-based Marsh is funding the acquisition with cash and Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. stock. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.

The deal gives Marsh “preferred access to provide insurance broking and risk management services to (parent HSBC's) corporate and private clients,” the company said in a statement.

Marsh Chief Executive Officer Dan Glaser called the acquisition “a great opportunity” for the brokerage and its clients. “It will enable us to leverage HSBC's global network and banking relationships to generate new business,” he said in the statement.

“We also see good growth potential in placing third-party business generated via HIBL's accident, health and contingency, cargo, specie and North American practices,” Mr. Glaser said. “We will manage this specialist business through a dedicated business unit, called Gibbs Hartley Cooper—reviving the name of the venerable independent broker which can trace its roots back to 1808.”

HIBL's reinsurance brokerage business will be integrated into Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc., Mr. Glaser said in a Friday conference call.

As for further acquisitions, Mr. Glaser said Marsh expects to announce a deal before Christmas to acquire a U.S. agency. He did not provide further details, but Marsh & McLennan Agency L.L.C. is believed to be in advanced talks to buy Paramus, N.J.-based NIA Group L.L.C., the 34th-largest broker of U.S. business with $69.7 million in 2008 brokerage revenues, according to Business Insurance’s rankings.

Reacting to the HIBL deal, Meyer Shields, an analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. in Baltimore, said in a client note that he’s “quite optimistic on Marsh’s outlook and (the HIBL) acquisition for a few reasons.”

Not only does HIBL help offset weak organic growth, especially in the U.S. and U.K. markets, it also bolsters Marsh’s presence in growing economies and markets, including the Middle East and China, he said.

Mr. Shields estimated that HIBL would add about $162 million in annual brokerage revenues for Marsh.

In a client note, Keith Walsh, an analyst with Citigroup Research in New York, described the deal as “a good strategic acquisition in a soft pricing environment.”

“Acquiring one of the top U.K. brokers is consistent with the dual track (merger and acquisition) strategy (Marsh) has laid out,” Mr. Walsh said. Mr. Glaser “has indicated we will see agency deals in the U.S. coupled with exploring larger international acquisitions in an attempt to access faster-growing markets abroad. The deal is relatively minor, but part of what we view is a growing consolidation trend for 2010—a trend in which we expect Marsh will actively participate.”