Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. on Tuesday said it will acquire Boston-based William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers Inc.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015, when a decision about a name change will also most likely be discussed “but it probably won't change too much,” an Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. spokeswoman said.
“The WGA acquisition gives us a wonderful opportunity to significantly expand our operating platform in the Eastern U.S. and market presence in two of our core businesses,” Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. President and CEO J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. said in a statement.
Those core businesses are retail property/casualty and benefits consultant and broker segments of the company's risk management core, according to the spokeswoman.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is the world's fourth-largest insurance broker, while William Gallagher Associates is the 65th-largest broker of U.S. business, according to Business Insurance's latest ranking.
Private equity-backed buyers expanded their ownership of insurance brokerages in 2014, contributing to a record number of announced mergers and acquisitions in the United States and Canada amid strong pricing for sellers.