Hub agrees to sell to new private equity investors in $4.4 billion deal

Martin Hughes, chairman and CEO of Hub International Ltd.

Private equity-owned insurance brokerage Hub International Ltd. is being sold to another private equity firm in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, the brokerage announced Monday.

San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman L.L.C. will buy Chicago-based Hub from Apax Partners L.L.P. and Morgan Stanley Principal Investments, which bought the brokerage in 2007 when it reverted to private ownership.

With the deal, Hellman & Friedman investment funds will hold a majority interest in Hub while senior management at Hub would continue to have a “significant” equity position, Hub said in a statement.

Hub is the world's 10th largest insurance brokerage with gross revenue of $989.8 million in 2012. According to the statement announcing the deal, Hub expects to grow its revenue to $1.2 billion in 2013.

The brokerage, which itself is one of the most acquisitive firms in the market, completing 29 mergers and acquisitions in 2012, is the 11th largest broker of U.S. business with $632.8 million in U.S. revenue, according to Business Insurance's latest ranking.

Hub has about 6,500 employees in the United States, Canada and Brazil.

“Partnering with Hellman & Friedman will enable us to build upon our current strategy of enhancing our product and service capabilities and expanding our geographic footprint,” Martin Hughes, chairman and CEO of Hub, said in the statement,

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.