Gallagher buys Illinois brokerage

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said Tuesday that it had acquired Rockford, Illinois-based Williams-Manny Insurance Group for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in Rockford in 1896, Williams-Manny Insurance Group is a commercial and personal lines property/casualty and employee benefits brokerage, with an emphasis on construction, manufacturing, higher education and nonprofit accounts, according to a Gallagher statement.

The company has about 80 employees, a spokewoman for Arthur J. Gallagher said.

Williams-Manny’s executives and other employees will continue to operate out of their Rockford, Wheaton and Freeport, Illinois offices, where they will be under the direction of Patrick M. Gallagher, head of Gallagher’s Midwest retail property/casualty brokerage operations, and John Neumaier, head of Gallagher’s Great Lakes employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations, the statement said.

“Williams-Manny has been a strong and respected competitor, and represents an outstanding geographic, strategic and cultural fit for Gallagher,” J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.