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Agency owner loves his work, backs out of sale

Posted On: Dec. 28, 2015 12:00 AM CST

Agency owner loves his work, backs out of sale

While merger mania was in full swing during 2015, at least one agency owner didn't take the money and run in December.

During a month-long delay in closing a deal, Wichita, Kansas-based M&M Insurance Associates owner Jim Newhouse, 85, got cold feet. He was set to sell his agency to Parsons, Kansas-based Wood-Dulohery Insurance Inc. but ultimately thought otherwise.

“I don't have anything to do if I don't come to work,” Mr. Newhouse told The Wichita Eagle newspaper. “I don't golf. I don't gamble. … I come to work, and I enjoy it.”

He told the newspaper that he broke the news to Wood-Dulohery management in person. “I went down to their office, and I told them I was sorry, I just couldn't sell it,” Mr. Newhouse said.

“I may be 85, but I don't feel like I'm 85, and I'm not ready to retire,” Mr. Newhouse told the Eagle. “I just couldn't do it.”