Brokerage USI buys Holmes Murphy's St. Louis operation

USI Holdings Corp. has acquired insurance brokerage Holmes Murphy & Associates Inc.’s operation in St. Louis, USI announced Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for USI declined to comment on the terms of the sale.

Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Holmes Murphy & Associates established its St. Louis operation in 1995 and expanded it a year later with the acquisition of Corporate Benefit Strategies, USI said in a statement.

USI said the purchase was intended to broaden the Valhalla, New York-based broker’s footprint in the Midwest region and open new opportunities for growth in the middle-market employee benefits and commercial property/casualty insurance sectors.

“We are excited to have such an experienced group of professionals join us, and I look forward to leveraging their deep industry knowledge and exceptional client service to partner with existing and future clients,” Thomas Cassady, USI’s CEO for the Midwest region, said in the statement.

A spokeswoman for USI said the company plans to retain Holmes Murphy’s St. Louis-based staff, who will join USI’s existing operations in the city. The company’s timetable for completing the transition was not immediately available, the spokeswoman said.

Respectively, USI and Holmes Murphy are the 10th- and 26th-largest brokers of U.S. business, according to Business Insurance’s latest rankings.